A shooting at a youth hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, left two people dead and three others critically injured on Monday afternoon, with the gunman—a self-identifying “transgender woman” with a documented history of antisemitic and racist social media activity—ultimately taking his own life.
The shooter, identified as Robert Dorgan, 56, who also went by the name “Roberta Esposito,” opened fire at Lynch Arena approximately 30 minutes into a “Senior Night” hockey tournament that began at 2 p.m., Resist the Mainstream previously reported.
Dorgan killed his ex-wife, Rhonda, 52, and his son Aidan Dorgan, 23, in the attack.
Three other family members, including Aidan’s grandparents, were left critically injured and remain in critical condition fighting for their lives.
The shooting unfolded just feet from the ice where Dorgan’s youngest son, Colin Dorgan, 17, was competing.
Colin serves as captain of the Blackstone Valley Schools’ hockey team and wears jersey No. 17, according to reports.
Footage from inside the rink captured Colin skating backwards when shots rang out.
The defenseman abruptly turned toward the source of the gunfire before rushing off the ice.
Other footage showed Dorgan walking slowly through the stands before raising his arm and firing a barrage of approximately a dozen shots, including several rounds directly into one victim’s back.
A witness attempted to detain Dorgan from behind as others fled the arena, per media reports.
Hockey players scrambled off the ice as the shots were fired. Those on the sidelines ducked and sprinted for safety, while some players leapt over the boards and ran to the locker rooms. Spectators were heard crying and screaming throughout the arena.
“I was on the ice and I thought it was balloons at first — it was like ‘bop, bop,’ and I thought it was balloons, but this kept going — and it was actually gunshots,” player Olin Lawrence recounted, according to the Daily Mail.
“And after the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room and we just bunkered up and we pressed against the door and we tried to stay safe down there. But it was very scary, we were very nervous.”
The game featured a co-op team made up of students from Coventry and Johnston competing against another co-op team from St. Raphael, PCD, North Providence, and North Smithfield schools.
Social media profiles belonging to Dorgan showed him displaying a large SS symbol tattoo on his bicep.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the center of the tattoo featured a white skull and crossbones with glowing red eyes, known as the Totenkopf or “death’s head” skull—a symbol used by a branch of the SS “whose purpose was to guard the concentration camps.”
The ADL notes the symbol is now frequently used by neo-Nazis and white supremacists “because of its importance to the SS.”
Dorgan regularly voiced support for “white power” on his social media pages and had a documented history of posting antisemitic and racist content.
Just one day before the shooting, Dorgan posted an anti-Asian slur in response to a video praising Adolf Hitler. That same day, he also threatened to go “BESERK,” per reports.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves stated she believes the shooting was targeted and stemmed from a family dispute. A confirmed motive has not been established.
Court records show Rhonda filed for divorce from Dorgan in 2020.
She initially cited Dorgan’s “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic and personality disorder traits” as grounds, according to filings obtained by WPRI.
Those reasons were later crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.” The divorce was finalized in 2021.
Court documents also reveal Dorgan told North Providence police in early 2020 that his father-in-law wanted him removed from the family home following his gender reassignment surgery.
Dorgan alleged his father-in-law threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang” and said: “There’s no goddam [sic] way a tranny is going to stay in my house.”
The father-in-law was charged with intimidation and obstruction but charges were later dismissed.
Dorgan also accused his mother of assault, leading to charges of simple assault, battery, and disorderly conduct against him – charges that were also eventually dismissed.
A woman claiming to be Dorgan’s daughter told WCVB, “He shot my family, and he’s dead now,” adding, “If you have a loved one who you think is sick, trust your gut.”
A GoFundMe established by Rhonda’s stepdaughter, Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, is raising money for Colin and his sister Ava, who “are now facing the future without their parents and older brother.”
Wallace-Hubbard wrote that “despite the pain, Ava and Colin are determined to continue their education and build a life that honors the memory of our loved ones.” As of Tuesday evening, the fundraiser had raised over $131,600.
