Police Seek Teen in Attack at Gay Bar

A young man dressed all in black went on a rampage at a gay bar with a hatchet and a gun Thursday, wounding three patrons in what police said appeared to be a hate crime.

One victim was in critical condition.

Police were searching for 18-year-old Jacob D. Robida, who was wanted on charges of attempted murder, assault and civil rights violations.

According to court papers, Robida’s mother told police that he briefly stopped by his home less than an hour after the attack and was bleeding from the head. In Robida’s bedroom, officers found Nazi regalia and anti-Semitic writings on the wall.

“Obviously we have a man who’s dangerous, who’s not rational -- and he has weapons,” prosecutor Paul Walsh Jr. said.

A bartender said it was around midnight when a teen wearing a black hooded sweatshirt and black pants walked into Puzzles Lounge, a gay nightspot in this historic seaport city of 94,000 people about 50 miles from Boston.

He flashed an apparently fake ID and ordered a drink, then asked if the place was a gay bar and was told it was, said the bartender, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Phillip, because he feared for his safety.

The bartender said the teen finished his drink and approached two men who were playing pool. He shoved one to the ground, then pulled a hatchet from his sweatshirt and swung at the man’s head, cutting him, Phillip said.

Other patrons tackled the man, sending the hatchet sliding across the floor, the bartender said. Then the attacker pulled a gun and shot two people before running off, the bartender said.

Police recovered the hatchet. According to court papers, a woman in the bar recognized Robida as a current or former student at New Bedford High School.

Robida graduated in 2001 from the city’s Junior Police Academy, a “boot camp” that teaches discipline to 12- to 14-year-olds, many of whom are referred by juvenile courts or social services agencies, acting Police Chief David Provencher said.