NEW BEDFORD, Mass. (AP) – The attacker wore black, hiding his arsenal inside a hooded sweat shirt and flashing an apparently fake ID to the bartender at Puzzles Lounge, a popular gay nightspot in this historic seaport.

The man identified by police as 18-year-old Jacob D. Robida, of New Bedford, ordered a drink and asked if it was a gay bar.

Told that it was, the teenager then attacked the patrons with a hatchet and handgun, according to police, sending three men to the hospital, one with critical injuries, before fleeing into the early morning darkness Thursday.

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

The bartender, who asked to be identified only by his first name, Phillip, because of concerns about his own safety while Robida is at large, told The Associated Press that the assailant walked into Puzzles around midnight and drank a Captain Morgan rum on the rocks. He ordered another and walked to the back of the bar, where two men were playing pool, the bartender said.

He shoved one of the men to the ground, said Phillip, then pulled a hatchet from his sweat shirt and began swinging it at the man’s head. The second pool player intervened, swinging at the assailant with his pool cue, but the attacker fended him off, the bartender said.

Several other patrons tried to stop him, and he was knocked off his feet, sending the hatchet flying, Phillip said.

The assailant then pulled out the handgun and shot one man, according to the bartender. He fired another bullet through the chest of a patron who was leaving the bathroom.

“He was shooting at everyone,” Phillip said.

The attacker shoved the bartender before leaving the building and running up the street, he said. Moments later, the police arrived.

They found the hatchet on the barroom floor and a knife lying on the ground outside, though it was apparently never used in the attack.

A warrant was issued for Robida’s arrest on charges of assault, attempted murder and civil-rights violations.

According to a court filing attached to the arrest warrant, a woman in the bar recognized Robida as a current or former student at New Bedford High School. School officials declined to confirm whether Robida was enrolled there.

He’s also known to New Bedford police because he graduated in 2001 from the city’s Junior Police Academy, according to acting Police Chief David Provencher. The “boot camp” program is designed to teach discipline to 12- to 14-year-olds, many of whom are referrals from the juvenile courts or social services agencies.

Robida is described as a short, stocky white man with dark hair. He was last seen driving a green 1999 Pontiac Grand Am.

“He’s definitely considered armed and dangerous and has extremely violent tendencies,” said New Bedford police Capt. Richard Spirlet.

According to the police affidavit, officers went to Robida’s home and spoke to his mother, Stephanie Oliver. She said her son came home around 1 a.m., bleeding from the head, then left again.

The officers went to his bedroom and found what they described as “Nazi regalia” and anti-Semitic writings on the wall, according to the affidavit.

Oliver declined to comment Thursday to The Associated Press through a family friend who answered the door at their home.

The injured men were identified by police as Robert Perry of Dartmouth, Alex Taylor of Fairhaven, and Luis Rosado of New Bedford.

Two were taken to Boston hospitals and a third was taken to St. Luke’s Hospital in New Bedford, and later transferred to an undisclosed hospital. Police said that one of the victims was in critical condition, but would not say which one.

One man has a gunshot wound to the chest, another has a gunshot wound to the back and severe cuts to his face, and a third has multiple cuts, police said. They would not specify which man suffered which injuries.

Perry was listed in good condition at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston.

Puzzles is popular with the local gay community and is listed on several Web sites offering resources to gays and lesbians. Police said they rarely respond to reports of trouble there.

“If all the bars in the city were that quiet, we’d be great,” Spirlet said.