A transgender father shot his wife, their kids, and a family friend during a high school hockey tournament in a crowded arena in Rhode Island. Police say two of the victims are dead, while the others are hospitalised after the attack on Monday.
Officials have described the twisted shooting as the aftermath of a targeted family dispute. The violence unfolded inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, where families had gathered to watch a slate of high school hockey games. According to reports, gunfire erupted in the stands around 2:30 p.m.
Investigators identified the gunman as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan. He was transitioning into a woman and also went by Roberta Esposito. Police confirmed that after opening fire on family members seated among spectators, Dorgan turned the gun on himself and pulled the trigger. He was pronounced dead at the scene, say the police.
His wife, the mother of his son, was also confirmed to be dead on the spot. The other victim who died was confirmed to be one of their children. Police said the child, believed to be a little girl, succumbed to her injuries at the hospital. The remaining victims were hospitalised in critical condition.
Reports say the family were attending the tournament as spectators. The tournament involved six schools, and Dorgan’s son was a senior at North Providence High School, one of the participating teams. Reports say his son was playing on the Ice when the incident happened.
The hockey game was being streamed live, and the explosions, as well as the panic, were all recorded. After several shots, players on the ice dropped low and rushed toward the boards. Some athletes sprinted toward the locker rooms, while others scrambled off the bench area, abandoning equipment in their effort to escape. In the stands, spectators dove for cover as the sound of roughly 11 gunshots echoed through the arena.
Several witnesses said the confusion in the first seconds made it difficult to grasp what was happening. Some initially believed the noises were balloons popping or hockey players banging their skates against the boards. When the shots continued, panic spread quickly.
Some of the students who fled the building ran to a nearby Walgreens. When they were safely inside, employees locked the doors and called police. Those who ran to the locker rooms barricaded themselves inside, according to Olin Lawrence, a sophomore goalkeeper for Coventry High School.
Lawrence said he and his teams secured the door to ensure everyone inside was safe during the “scary” incident. He described hearing a lot of shots and said it made them all extremely nervous.
Not everyone left the arena; there were some people who remained to assist victims in the stands. According to a witness, another father in the stands tried to stop the attack by pouncing on the shooter and wrestling the gun out of his hand. However, the shooter had another gun, which he withdrew and continued to shoot his family.
Along with his son, another one of his adult children were not harmed. A young woman who exited after the chaos identified the shooter as her father when she spoke to reporters. Before rushing off to the hospital, she also said that he struggled with “mental health issues” and confirmed that he is dead after shooting her family.
