Death metal vocalist shot, one man killed as gun violence brings terror to California metal show

By Paul Brannigan
published

Crawling Through Tartarus vocalist Matt Holzboog undergoes surgery following fatal shooting at metal gig in San Bernardino

Band
(Image credit: Crawling Through Tartarus)

One man has been killed and four more people injured as gun violence plunged a Californian death metal gig into chaos on April 23.

The horrifying story unfolded on Saturday evening around 9:50 pm local time outside the Marquis Lounge in San Bernardin, reportedly while Los Angeles area bdeath metal band Crawling Through Tartarus were performing at the bar. One man, identified as 32-year-old James Vincent Dickson. was pronounced dead at the scene, according to a report from CBS News in Los Angeles, while four others, including Crawling Through Tartarus frontman Matt Holzboog, were taken to hospital with gun shot wounds.

Holzboog, who was reportedly struck by two bullets, underwent surgery at the weekend, and is now in a stable condition.

CBS News reports: "The investigation into the shooting remains under investigation, and no suspect or motive information was available.

Anyone with information about the shooting can contact Detective D. Sims at (909) 384-5665 or via email at sims_da@sbcity.org, or Sgt. J. Plummer at (909) 384-5613 or via email at plummer_jo@sbcity.org."

Paul Brannigan
Paul Brannigan
Contributing Editor, Louder

A music writer since 1993, formerly Editor of Kerrang! and Planet Rock magazine (RIP), Paul Brannigan is a Contributing Editor to Louder. Having previously written books on Lemmy, Dave Grohl (the Sunday Times best-seller This Is A Call) and Metallica (Birth School Metallica Death, co-authored with Ian Winwood), his Eddie Van Halen biography (Eruption in the UK, Unchained in the US) emerged in 2021. He has written for Rolling Stone, Mojo and Q, hung out with Fugazi at Dischord House, flown on Ozzy Osbourne's private jet, played Angus Young's Gibson SG, and interviewed everyone from Aerosmith and Beastie Boys to Young Gods and ZZ Top. Born in the North of Ireland, Brannigan lives in North London and supports The Arsenal.