In Ark. and New Bedford, a time to mourn and reflect

Two communities 1,500 miles apart both made somber preparations yesterday following Jacob D. Robida's violence, with New Bedford leaders designating the upcoming weekend for prayer and reflection on intolerance, while grieving northern Arkansas residents finished funeral plans for a beloved local officer gunned down by the teen.

The New Bedford teenager has, in some sense, united these two disparate areas, one an old New England whaling town, the other a string of Ozark Mountain hamlets. A contingent of New Bedford politicians and police officers plans to attend the funeral tomorrow for James Sell, a 63-year-old part-time officer in Gassville, Ark. Law enforcement officials from both areas are jointly investigating Robida's crimes.

But there was tension yesterday as Arkansas authorities criticized their Massachusetts counterparts for disclosing information on the case to the media, which they said had taken the focus off Sell's sacrifice.

''I'm not happy" with the disclosures coming out of Massachusetts, said Baxter County Sheriff John Montgomery.

Bristol District Attorney Paul F. Walsh Jr., who is leading the Bay State end of the case, did not comment on the issue yesterday, saying only that he would release a written report on the investigation next week. On Tuesday, he said Robida had died from a single self-inflicted gunshot -- and had not, as initially reported by authorities, been killed by Arkansas officers.

Robida sent three men to the hospital last week after attacking them with a gun and hatchet at a gay bar in New Bedford. On Saturday, he turned up in Arkansas, where he killed Sell, then Jennifer Rena Bailey -- a 33-year-old woman with whom he had once lived and whom he had picked up in Charleston, W.Va. -- before turning the gun on himself.

Investigators yesterday continued poring over the files from computers seized from both Robida and Bailey's houses, hoping to answer some lingering questions: Why did Robida explode into violence? Did Bailey go willingly with him? Was Arkansas their intended destination?

Massachusetts State Trooper Paul Dockrey, who is assigned to Walsh's office and is in Arkansas investigating the case, said yesterday that he thought the computers ''are where we're going to get our answers."

Dockrey also said investigators had traced Robida's Ruger 9mm handgun to its last owner, but said he did not know the person's identity. Dockrey said the gun had not been reported stolen, adding ''that doesn't mean it wasn't."

In New Bedford, Mayor Scott W. Lang, surrounded at a news conference yesterday by local clergy, said houses of worship throughout the city should focus this weekend on combating intolerance and violence.

''The one thing we cannot tolerate in this city, whether it's motivated by hate or anything else, is violence," said Lang, a former prosecutor who ousted a four-term incumbent in November after vowing to fight crime.

Lang and other New Bedford politicians plan to journey today to Arkansas to attend Sell's funeral. The New Bedford school district yesterday sent home letters to parents urging them to seek help if they sense their children have deep social problems.

The letter also addressed young people: ''If you as a student have issues that you need help with, please don't be afraid to seek that help."

City Councilman Brian K. Gomes of New Bedford worried that Robida's attack at the bar, classified by police as a hate crime, would tarnish New Bedford's image.

''We are all hurting about what happened here in the city," he said. ''We want to stretch out as far as we can to unite this city to send a positive message to the Commonwealth, to the United States of America, that this is a city that cares."

In Arkansas, meanwhile, preparations continued yesterday for Sell's funeral in East Side Baptist Church in Mountain Home, where 1,000 or more mourners are expected, including hundreds of police officers from across the country.

Montgomery said he had fielded calls from as far away as California inquiring about the arrangements.

Flags in front of banks and shops along US Route 62 in Arkansas flew at half-staff yesterday, while signs along the busy commercial strip telegraphed sorrow.

The display in front of the Brass Door Motel, where Sell lost his life, said simply: ''We will miss you Jim."

Globe correspondent Michael Levenson contributed to this story. Wangsness reported from Mountain Home, Ark., and Mishra from Boston.