Alledged Gay Basher/Cop Killer Caught ?

Police investigate attack at New Bedford gay bar
By Associated Press
Thursday, February 2, 2006 - Updated: 05:55 PM EST

NEW BEDFORD, Mass. - A teenager dressed in all black attacked patrons of a gay nightspot here Thursday with a hatchet and a handgun, police said, wounding three of them before fleeing into the early morning darkness.
Police issued a warrant for 18-year-old Jacob D. Robida, of New Bedford, seeking to charge him with civil rights violations, as well as attempted murder and assault.
“Obviously, we have a man who’s dangerous, who’s not rational, and he has weapons,” said Bristol District Attorney Paul Walsh Jr.
The assailant walked into Puzzles Lounge, a popular gay nightspot in this historic seaport, around midnight. He was wearing a black hooded sweat shirt and black pants, said the bartender, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Phillip, because of concerns about his own safety while Robida is at large.
He flashed an apparently fake ID to the bartender and ordered a drink, Phillip said.
The man asked if it was a gay bar, and was told it was, then ordered another drink and walked to the back of the bar where two men were playing pool, the bartender said.
He shoved one of the men to the ground, said Phillip, then pulled a hatchet from his sweat shirt and began swinging it at the man’s head. The second pool player intervened, swinging at the assailant with his pool cue, but the attacker fended him off, the bartender said.
Several other patrons tried to stop him, and he was knocked off his feet, sending the hatchet flying, Phillip said.
The attacker then pulled out the handgun and shot one man, according to the bartender. He fired another bullet through the chest of a patron who was leaving the bathroom.
“He was shooting at everyone,” Phillip said.
He shoved the bartender before leaving the building and running up the street, Phillip said said. Moments later, the police arrived.
They found the hatchet on the barroom floor and a knife lying on the ground outside, though it was apparently never used in the attack.
According to a court filing attached to the arrest warrant, a woman in the bar recognized Robida as a current or former student at New Bedford High School. School officials declined to confirm whether Robida was enrolled there.
He’s also known to New Bedford police because he graduated in 2001 from the city’s Junior Police Academy, according to acting Police Chief David Provencher. The “boot camp” program is designed to teach discipline to 12- to 14-year-olds, many of whom are referrals from the juvenile courts or social services agencies.
Robida is described as a short, stocky white man with dark hair. He was last seen driving a green 1999 Pontiac Grand Am.
“He’s definitely considered armed and dangerous and has extremely violent tendencies,” said New Bedford police Capt. Richard Spirlet.
According to the police affidavit, officers went to Robida’s home and spoke to his mother, Stephanie Oliver. She said her son came home around 1 a.m., bleeding from the head, then left again.
The officers went to his bedroom and found what they described as “Nazi regalia” and anti-Semitic writings on the wall, according to the affidavit.
Oliver declined to comment Thursday to The Associated Press through a family friend who answered the door at their home.
The injured men were identified by police as Robert Perry of Dartmouth, Alex Taylor of Fairhaven, and Luis Rosado of New Bedford.
Two were taken to Boston hospitals and a third was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and later transferred to an undisclosed hospital. Police said that one of the victims was in critical condition, but would not say which one.
One man has a gunshot wound to the chest, another has a gunshot wound to the back and severe cuts to his face, and a third has multiple cuts, police said. They would not specify which man suffered which injuries.
Perry was listed in good condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.
Puzzles is popular with the local gay community and is listed on several Web sites offering resources to gays and lesbians. Police said they rarely respond to reports of trouble there.
“If all the bars in the city were that quiet, we’d be great,” Spirlet said.
The bar’s owner, Richard F. Macedo, said he planned to be open on Thursday night. Staying closed would amount to giving in to homophobia, he said.
Puzzles and its patrons have never previously been targeted because of their sexual orientation, he said.
“We’ve been here almost 15 years,” Macedo said. “All it takes is one bad egg.”

source: http://news.bostonherald.com/localRegional/view.bg?articleid=124162&format=text
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Teen Wanted in Gay Bar Shooting Is Caught

NORFORK, Ark. - A teenager accused of going on a rampage at a Massachusetts gay bar with a hatchet and a gun was in a Missouri hospital Saturday after two shootings in northern Arkansas that resulted in the death of a police officer and a woman accompanying the wounded teen, state police said.
Jacob D. Robida, 18, was transported to a hospital at Springfield, Mo., after an exchange of gunfire with police in Norfork, according to state police spokesman Bill Sadler.
Sadler identified the slain officer as Jim Sell, a member of the Gassville police force. Sadler said he did not know the name of the woman who died in the gunfire at Norfork.
Robida was wanted in the attack Thursday at Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford, Mass., that left three men wounded, one critically.
Police have labeled the attack a hate crime and said Robida would be charged with attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations.
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060204/ap_on_re_us/gay_bar_shooting
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http://www.myspace.com/jakejekyll
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From Brownwood to Gassville

Here's a letter to the editor from a Brownwood Resident

Even in Texas, Sell shooting is a shock
From Dianne Anderson
Brownwood, Texas:
I would like to send my my deepest heartfelt prayers to Officer Jim Sell's family and friends. This came as a shock to even to those of us in Texas who have lived there for years and have family still there.
My brother drove up by the Brass Door right after this happened and was in total shock as all the residents there are.
One may never know why or how come this tragic ordeal happen, but again may I say my heartfelt prayers to the family of Officer Sell and friends.

Originally published February 10, 2006
source: http://www.baxterbulletinonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060210/OPINION01/602100337/1014