Gay-attack suspect arrested in shootout

BOSTON – A Massachusetts teenager suspected in an attack at a gay bar was apprehended Saturday in a bloody shootout in Arkansas that claimed the lives of a police officer as well as the suspect’s female passenger.

Jacob D. Robida, 18, was in critical condition late Saturday at Cox South Hospital in Springfield, Mo., about an hour and a half from Baxter County, Ark., where the shootings occurred.

Arkansas State Police spokesman Bill Sadler said police officer Jim Sell, from the northern Arkansas town of Gassville, was killed shortly after 2:30 p.m. Saturday when he tried to stop Robida, who was wanted in connection with an attack early Thursday at a gay bar in New Bedford, Mass. It was not clear if Sell knew who Robida was when he tried to stop him.

After Sell was shot, Robida’s green Pontiac was picked up within 15 minutes by state police in the Arkansas community of Mountain Home. Officers pursued the suspect into the town of Norfork, where officers set out spike strips intended to puncture his car tires. The car passed over the spikes without stopping. Moments later, the chase ended with an exchange of gunfire, Sadler said.

Robida was wounded. His unidentified passenger was pronounced dead at the scene.

Robida allegedly entered the Puzzles Lounge in New Bedford late Thursday. He asked the bartender if Puzzles was a gay bar. Told that it was, he allegedly took out a hatchet and a handgun hidden in his baggy clothing and attacked three men at a pool table.

Robert Perry, 52, was treated and released for bullet wounds and a long gash across his cheek. Alex Taylor and Luis Rosado remained hospitalized with more serious injuries.