The shooter who opened fire at a Rhode Island ice rink was specifically targeting family members, authorities said. A woman who used to be married to the shooter and her son were killed in the attack, and three others were injured as hockey fans fled and a small group rushed to stop the shooter.
The Pawtucket police chief, Tina Goncalves, confirmed the shooter’s ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed, and said three others were injured: Rhonda Dorgan’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso, all of whom remained in critical condition.
The shooting happened at the Dennis M Lynch Arena ice rink in Pawtucket on Monday at about 2.30pm, during a high school hockey game. The suspect, identified by police as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, died from an apparent self-inflicted shot, Goncalves said.
“It appears that a lone individual, the suspect, entered the arena to watch the hockey game of a family member. And unfortunately, during that time, a shooting occurred,” Goncalves said during a news conference on Monday night.
Goncalves added that “the police were not involved” in killing the suspect. Local officials have not released the names of the victims and Goncalves said the investigation was ongoing.
The shooting was reportedly caught online during a live stream. NBC News verified the video, reporting that a “a series of roughly a dozen shots are heard”. The video has since been taken down.
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.
According to Goncalves, at least three bystanders at the hockey game intervened during the shooting by attempting to subdue the suspect. Goncalves credited this effort for helping the incident to end quickly. The people 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 North Providence mayor, Charles Lombardi, told NBC 10 News that one of the victims was the son of the suspect.
One of the players interviewed by NBC in Pawtucket said he heard the gunshots as they were playing.
“I was on the ice, and I thought it was balloons at first,” Olin Lawrence told the outlet. “It was like, bop, bop. And I thought it was balloons, but it just kept going.
“Me and my teammates ran right to the locker room, and we just bunkered up and we pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe down in there. But, no, it was very scary,” Lawrence added.
The Rhode Island Interscholastic League said on Monday all games were suspended.
Monday’s shooting came nearly two months after the state was rocked by a shooting at Brown University that killed two students and a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor, and wounded nine others. Authorities later found Claudio Neves Valente, 48, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility.
The state’s governor, Dan McKee, said he was devastated by the Pawtucket shooting, offering mental health resources to people affected.
“As a governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students and everyone impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket,” McKee said in a statement. “I am praying for Rhode Island.”
“What should have been a joyful occasion, with dozens of families, students, and supporters gathered to celebrate Senior Night … was instead marked by violence and fear,” Pawtucket mayor Don Grebien said in a statement. “Our prayers go out to the victims, their families, and everyone impacted by this devastating incident.”
“Pawtucket is a strong and resilient community, but tonight we are a city in mourning,” he continued. “We will stand together to support all those affected in the difficult days ahead.”
