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(Norfolk, Arkansas) The hunt for the teen
who went on a rampage in a Massachusetts gay bar injuring three ended Saturday
night near a small town in Northern Arkansas, but not be fore two people -one of
them a police officer - were killed in a shootout.
18 year old Jacob D. Robida had been on the run
since Thursday when he allegedly went to Puzzles bar in New Bedford
Massachusetts, took a hatchet from underneath his sweatshirt and struck one man
in the face and then pulled a gun and began shooting. In all three people
were wounded and sent to hospital. (story)
Two of the victims remain hospitalized - one in
critical condition.
New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang walked into Puzzles
Lounge Saturday night to announce that Robida had been caught.
The news was greeted with applause.
Robert Perry, the third victim
in the attack, returned to the bar Saturday night as soon as
he heard that Robida had been captured.
Perry was hugged by patrons and
said the he hopes he can put the attack behind him. He has a five-inch cut on his right cheek, a hole in the
center of his back, where a bullet barely missed his spine, and a black right
eye.
Following the attack at Puzzles Robida briefly returned to his family home where
he took his mother's green 1999 Pontiac Grand Am.
Saturday the car was spotted in the northern
Arkansas town of Gassville. As police officer Jim Sell attempted to apprehend
Robida, the teen fired twice at the officer, killing him.
The car then sped off. State troopers laid spike
strips on the roadway. Despite two punctured tires the car continued on
into downtown Norfolk where police had set up a roadblock.
The car did a 180 degree turn and then slammed
into several parked vehicles.
After being ordered to surrender the teen opened
fire.
Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery said that during the shootout Robida
turned, pointed the gun at a female in the car with him and killed her. State
Troopers said they could not confirm that the woman had been shot by Robida.
They said they would wait for ballistics tests
before commenting further.
During the shootout Robida was shot by police
twice in the head. Saturday night
he was in a Springfield, Mo. hospital in critical condition.
The woman's identity has not
been released. Police would say only that she was not
from New Bedford. When the car was stopped it was
bearing Kentucky plates.
If he recovers from his injuries it is doubtful he will be returned to
Massachusetts. He will be tried first in Arkansas which allows for the
death penalty in the killing of a police officer.
The teen's personal Web site shows a youth spiraling
downwards. The site is full of references to the rap group Insane Clown Posse -
known for its sinister clown makeup and violent lyrics. He posted lyrics
from one of the band's songs - "Pass the Ax."
"Pass me something Sharp and Wicked and I'll
pass it back don't worry I'll pass it back," the posting read. The logo for
the band's label, Psychopathic Records, depicts a silhouette of a man wielding a
hatchet.
Using the nickname "Jake Jekyll" Robida
also posted pictures of himself on the Web site pointing a gun. The pictures
bear the caption "serial killer."
A search by New Bedford police of his home
following the attacks turned up Nazi paraphernalia and anti-Semitic writings.
Perry's appearance at Puzzles was his second
since being released from hospital.
On Friday he told WBZ television he was playing pool at the
back of the club when the attack began.
"And when I turned around, there was this
hatchet coming right for my face and it just came right into my face on the
right side," Perry said.
"And within -- I would say, no more than
five seconds -- I heard a gunshot. I felt a sensation in my back. I smelled the
gun powder, and I'm like, 'I think I've been hit.'
''What was going through my mind is that I was
going to die soon. This is the end. I knew I was going to die.
"I came so close to being completely
paralyzed or being dead," Perry told the station.
Friday police released one of two frantic 911
calls made from the club. (story)
Thursday night about 150 people, including Mayor Lang, attended a vigil at the bar. (story)
©365Gay.com 2006
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