Eighteen-year-old Jacob D. Robida of New Bedford is being sought by police as the suspect in the hatchet and handgun assault of three people in a North End gay bar late Wednesday night.
The kid walked into the bar, asked “Is this a gay bar?” and then, moments later, pushed a patron down and went at the guy with a hatchet.
By the time he was through, he’d attempted to kill 3 people with the hatchet and a handgun. He escaped,
According to police, the suspect was identified by a female bar patron who recognized him from school and knew him as ‘Jake.’ Police said she made a positive identification when shown a photo of Robida, and said that he had looked suspicious to her because she knew that he was not gay. Police arrived at the Robida home at around 1 a.m., according to the affadavit [sic]. The suspect’s mother said that her son, bleeding from a head injury, had returned hom [sic] but had left again. She allowed police to search his room, where they said they found Nazi regalia and anti-Semitic slogans on the wall. Police said the room was “frozen” pending their application for a search warrant.
Update:
Damn, that's scary.
Before reading down to where the hatchet was mentioned I thought a likely response to "Is this a gay bar?" would be something like, "No, this is a gay *cocktail lounge*" but I don't want to make light of what happened.
Posted by: Mike L. at February 2, 2006 4:30 PMI was surprised to see that bar is a few blocks away from where my Aunt Bea lived across from St. Anthony's church. I used to play on the rooftops behind her tenement when I was a kid. I drove by a few months ago and thought the entire area looked decrepit now. But random and senseless violence can happen anywhere.
Posted by: Mike L. at February 2, 2006 4:37 PMsick
Posted by: Chuck S. at February 3, 2006 1:30 AMI wish I had been there to take a bat to his head.
God that would have been satisfying.
"Gay bar? No, this is a batting cage. Step on up, pal."
(I'm having a day, can you tell?)
Posted by: Patti M. at February 3, 2006 11:17 AM