Victims in Rhode Island hockey arena shooting were suspect’s ex-wife and son | CBC News

An individual who opened hearth throughout a youth hockey sport at an ice rink in Rhode Island on Monday was particularly concentrating on members of the family, and killed their ex-wife and one son, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves mentioned Tuesday.

Goncalves mentioned the victims were the shooter’s ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and grownup son Aidan Dorgan. Three others were injured — the dad and mom of the shooter’s ex-wife and a household pal, Goncalves mentioned.

Police mentioned the shooter, recognized as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, who glided by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, died from an obvious self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police did not present particulars on the shooter’s gender identification.

Goncalves mentioned there was “no indication” there could be violence on the ice rink in Pawtucket on Monday afternoon, including that Dorgan had been to many hockey video games earlier than with out incident.

Gender identification apparently was a contributing issue to Dorgan’s spouse submitting for divorce in 2020 after almost 30 years of marriage.

Court docket filings present Rhonda Dorgan initially wrote “gender reassignment surgical procedure, narcissistic + persona dysfunction traits” as causes for submitting, however crossed that out and wrote “irreconcilable variations which have brought about the irremediable breakdown of the wedding.”

Court docket paperwork present that two shared the identical final identify even previous to getting married. Authorities haven’t supplied extra particulars about this.

WATCH | Shooting could also be associated to household dispute:

‘Household dispute’ could also be behind Rhode Island ice rink shooting: police

Three individuals are lifeless, together with the suspect, after a shooting at an ice hockey rink in Pawtucket, R.I., on Monday that additionally left three others injured, police mentioned. Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves mentioned it seems the violence was ‘focused’ and presumably tied to a household dispute.

A day earlier than the shooting, underneath the identify Roberta Dorgano, Dorgan responded to anti-transgender posts by actor Kevin Sorbo and Infowars conspiracy theorist Alex Jones by saying that fixed criticism of transgender individuals is “why we Go BERSERK.”

Investigators had spoken to just about 100 witnesses as of Monday night as they tried to piece collectively what occurred earlier that afternoon contained in the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a couple of kilometres exterior Windfall.

Goncalves credited an unnamed “good Samaritan” who intervened, bringing the assault “to a swift finish.”

She mentioned Tuesday a minimum of three bystanders were capable of comprise Dorgan however mentioned Dorgan was nonetheless capable of attain for a second firearm, and then died of a self-inflicted gunshot, Goncalves mentioned.

Labored for shipbuilding facility

Dorgan was an worker of Common Dynamics Tub Iron Works, a ship constructing facility in Tub, Maine, that contracts with the U.S. Navy, David Hench, a spokesperson for the shipyard, instructed The Related Press Tuesday. Hench didn’t reply to questions on Dorgan’s job title or how lengthy they labored on the shipyard.

The AP additionally spoke to a few of Dorgan’s former colleagues. One, Future Mackenzie, recalled that Dorgan typically glided by Roberta at work, and that Dorgan’s hockey-playing son typically got here up in dialog however didn’t point out an ex-wife.

Mackenzie described Dorgan as having a foul mood that generally led to screaming matches with colleagues.

Dorgan briefly served in the Marine Corps, enlisting on April 26, 1988, in response to army information supplied by the service, however that service was short-lived. Lower than three months later, on July 13, Dorgan was separated from the service with the bottom army rank.

Michael Steven, who recorded video after the shooting, recalled crying dad and mom attempting to find their youngsters exterior the arena and younger individuals being taken out on stretchers.

“It occurs far too typically in our nation,” Steven instructed reporters.

Monday’s shooting got here almost two months after the state was rocked by a shooting at Brown College that left two college students lifeless and wounded 9 others, in addition to a Massachusetts Institute of Expertise professor. Authorities later discovered Claudio Neves Valente, 48, lifeless from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility.

“Our state is grieving once more,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee mentioned in a press release. “As governor, a guardian, and a former coach, my coronary heart breaks for the victims, households, college students, and everybody impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket.”