PAWTUCKET, R.I. — The person who opened fire Monday during a youth hockey game at a Rhode Island ice rink was specifically targeting family members, killing an ex-wife and son as many fans dived for cover while a handful rushed the shooter to stop the attack, authorities said.
Pawtucket Chief of Police Tina Goncalves said the shooter's ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed and three others were injured: Rhonda Dorgan's parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and a family friend Thomas Geruso, all of whom remained in critical condition Tuesday afternoon, Goncalves said
Police identified the shooter as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, who died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Dorgan also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, authorities said.
Goncalves said there was “no indication” there would be violence at the ice rink in Pawtucket on Monday afternoon, adding that Dorgan had been to many hockey games to watch family members play before without incident.
Gender identity apparently was a contributing factor to Dorgan’s wife filing for divorce in 2020 after nearly 30 years of marriage.
Court filings show Rhonda Dorgan initially wrote “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as reasons for filing but crossed that out and wrote “irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage.”
Court documents show that two shared the same last name even prior to getting married. Authorities have not provided additional details about the same name.
Under the name Roberta Dorgano, Dorgan posted on X that Rhonda Dorgan “hates the person who stole her husband” while posting about the couple’s marital troubles in 2018. A year later Dorgan wrote on social media: “Transwoman, 6 kids : wife – not thrilled,” and encouraged people to not let being transgender stop them from creating a family.
A day before the shooting, Dorgan responded on X to anti-transgender posts by actor Kevin Sorbo and Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by saying that constant criticism of transgender people is “why we Go BERSERK.”
Brutal attack ended when fans rushed to stop shooter
Goncalves on Tuesday credited several “good Samaritans” who intervened and quickly stopped the attack
At least three bystanders were able to contain Dorgan in the middle of the stands as the crowd fled and ran around them, but said Dorgan was still able to reach for a second firearm and died of a self-inflicted gunshot, Goncalves said.
The hockey game was livestreamed by LiveBarn, a streaming platform for youth sporting events, whose videos have been shared on social media showing players on the ice as popping sounds are heard. Chaos quickly unfolds as players on benches dive for cover, those on the ice frantically skate toward exits and fans flee their seats.
LiveBarn’s social media account has been issuing warnings to those who shared the video that they do not have permission to do so.
Michael Steven, who recorded video after the shooting, recalled crying parents trying to locate their children outside the arena and young people being taken out on stretchers.
“It happens far too often in our nation,” Steven told reporters.
Members of the community held a vigil at Slatersville Congregational Church in North Smithfield in the evening Tuesday.
“It’s absolutely mind-boggling that this could happen to people we know and love and support through everything,” said Amy Goulet, whose son is a hockey player in the community.
Shooter known for bad temper, co-worker says
Dorgan was an employee of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a ship building facility in Bath, Maine, that contracts with the U.S. Navy, David Hench, a spokesperson for the shipyard, said Tuesday. Co-workers said Dorgan often used the first name Roberta at work.
A colleague, Destiny Mackenzie, recalled that she and Dorgan would often talk about family. Mackenzie said Dorgan's ex-wife never came up in conversation but a hockey-playing son was a frequent topic.
“What was supposed to be some seniors' only chance at playoff games is now ruined,” she wrote in a message to The Associated Press. “Images that these kids and family’s now have to live with. That’s who I send my condolences to is those families."
Mackenzie also said Dorgan had a bad temper that sometimes led to screaming matches with colleagues.
Another co-worker said Dorgan appeared to be split on the issue of transgender acceptance, one second being proud of transitioning and the next, embarrassed. That co-worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of workplace reprisals, said they knew Dorgan owned guns but was unsure how many.
Dorgan briefly served in the Marine Corps, enlisting on April 26, 1988, according to military records provided by the service. Less than three months later, on July 13, Dorgan was separated from the service with the lowest military rank.
Maj. Jacoby Getty, a Marine Corps spokesman, told The Associated Press that the rapid discharge indicated Dorgan's character "was incongruent with Marine Corps’ expectations and standards.”
Getty declined to provide more detail.
Monday's shooting came nearly two months after the state was rocked by a shooting at Brown University that killed two students and wounded nine others, as well as left a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor dead. Authorities later found Claudio Neves Valente, 48, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility.
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Casey reported from Boston, and Whittle from Portland, Maine. Associated Press writer Konstantin Toropin in Washington contributed.