A senior night high school hockey tournament in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, turned into chaos and tragedy when a gunman opened fire inside the stands, killing two family members and wounding three others before taking his own life, authorities said.
The shooting unfolded Monday at Lynch Arena, where North Providence High School was participating in a tournament. Grainy video circulating online appears to show the suspect walking down an aisle in the stands before shots ring out, triggering panic as spectators scramble for safety.
Police later identified the shooter as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, who also went by Roberta Esposito. According to authorities, the incident is being investigated as a targeted act stemming from a domestic dispute.
Among the two people killed were the mother of Dorgan’s son — a senior hockey player participating in the event — and the player’s sibling, according to multiple reports. Three other individuals, described as family members and a family friend, were wounded. Dorgan died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said.
Witnesses described a scene of confusion and terror.
“When the first three shots went off, we all thought it was balloons popping from senior night decorations,” Izzy Sousa, an all-state softball player who was in the stands, told the Providence Journal. “As the bangs kept going off, everyone quickly realized they were gunshots, so we all jumped up and basically started a stampede to get out.”
Sousa said she was bruised in the rush to escape and recalled fearing she would be trampled. “All I thought was that if I fell, I was going to die,” she said. She and a friend fled to a nearby Walgreens before reaching their car and calling family members.
Other players took cover. Olin Lawrence, a sophomore goalie from Coventry High School, told CBS Boston that he and teammates rushed off the ice and barricaded themselves in a locker room, pressing against the door in fear as shots continued.
“It was very scary. We were very nervous. It was a lot of shots,” he said.
A livestream intended to broadcast the tournament for families unable to attend reportedly captured the moment the shooting began.
Authorities said the violence appears to have been the result of a family dispute. Court records cited by local media indicate Dorgan had undergone gender reassignment surgery in 2020 and had been involved in family court matters in recent years. Police have not detailed how those matters may relate to the motive.
