Jacob D. Robida
Jacob D. Robida (June 13, 1987 – February 5, 2006) was a Massachusetts teenager who attacked three patrons at a New Bedford gay bar on February 2, 2006. He fled the state and drove to Charleston, West Virginia, where he kidnapped Jennifer Rena Dunlap Bailey and drove southwest.
He was stopped by Gassville, Arkansas Police Officer James W. Sell at the Brass Door Restaurant parking lot on the afternoon of February 4, 2006 for an apparent traffic violation. Robida shot and killed Sell and fled east. He turned onto Arkansas Highway 201 headed south and continued to Arkana, where he fired at Arkansas State Police Sgt. Van Nowlin. Deputies from the Baxter County Sheriff's Office had a spike strip deployed a short distance away. Robida drove over the spike strip, flattening both front tires on his Pontiac.
He continued to Arkansas Highway 5, where he turned south and drove into the small town of Norfork. In the middle of town he lost control of the car due to the front tires, spun out, and hit two parked vehicles. He then shot a woman in the head with a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic pistol, killing her instantly. Police then opened fire on Robida. He shot himself in the right side of the head. He died in a hospital in Springfield, Missouri at 03:38 CST on February 5, 2006.
Accusations and manhunt
About midnight on February 2, 2006, Robida entered entered Puzzles Lounge, a popular gay bar in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 50 miles (93 km) south of Boston. The 18-year-old, dressed in black, proceeded to order a drink using a fake ID indicating he was 23. After downing his first drink, he asked the bartender if the lounge was a gay bar. The bartender confirmed it was. After a second drink Robida then swung a hatchet at a patron's head, injuring him. Other patrons tackled him and relieved him of the weapon, whereupon Robida produced a handgun and began shooting, wounding at least three more people.
Robida fled the scene in a green 1999 Pontiac, wanted by police on three counts of attempted murder. Police treated the incident as a hate crime. In total, four people were seriously hurt.
Police immediately began a manhunt for Robida and raided his mother's home in New Bedford. She told them she had last seen him at 1am bleeding from the head and that he had left soon after. They found weapons of all types, including hatchets, knives, handguns and a shotgun. In his bedroom they allegedly found "National Socialist regalia" and anti-Semitic writings on the walls. Fearing he may have left Massachusetts, state police contacted the FBI, sparking a nationwide manhunt. Before long, flyers depicting Robida were distributed all over Massachusetts.
Capture
In the afternoon of February 4, 2006, Robida's vehicle was seen about 1500 miles away in Arkansas, where Jim Sell, a Gassville police officer, initiated a traffic stop. After talking with Sell for about half a minute, Robida opened fire with a 9mm handgun, killing the officer. Police pursued him and laid spike strips, but this failed to stop the car. Robida fled for about 18 miles, stopped in Norfork, Arkansas and exchanged gunfire with police. During the gunfight, he shot Bailey, 33, of Charleston, West Virginia at point blank range, killing her.
The authorities believe Robida had picked her up earlier in the week at her home in West Virginia, for some unknown reason. It has been reported that Robida lived with her in West Virginia in 2004. After Bailey's death, Robida shot himself in the head. He was flown more than 100 miles to Springfield, Missouri for medical treatment, where he died of his injuries not long afterward.
