Authorities say the shooter who opened fire during a youth hockey game at an ice rink in Rhode Island was a transgender person who targeted and killed his ex-wife and one son.
Pawtucket Chief of Police Tina Goncalves says the victims were Rhonda Dorgan and adult son, Aidan Dorgan. The shooter injured three others during the attack on Monday afternoon in Pawtucket, including the shooter’s ex-wife’s parents and a family friend.
Police have identified the shooter as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, who also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano. Police say he died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The shooter’s gender confusion apparently was a factor behind his wife filing for divorce in 2020 after nearly 30 years of marriage.
Court filings show Rhonda Dorgan initially wrote “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as reasons for filing, but she then reportedly crossed that out and wrote “irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage.”
Under the name Roberta Dorgano, the shooter had posted on X that Rhonda Dorgan “hates the person who stole her husband” in a post about the couple’s marital troubles in 2018.
A year later, Dorgan wrote on social media: “Transwoman, 6 kids: wife – not thrilled,” and encouraged people not to let being transgender stop them from creating a family.
A day before the shooting, Dorgan lashed out on X against people who believe transgender ideology is unhealthy, claiming that such criticism is the real reason “why we Go BERSERK.”
Goncalves on Tuesday credited several “good Samaritans” who intervened and quickly stopped the attack
At least three bystanders were able to contain Dorgan in the middle of the stands as the crowd fled and ran around them. Goncalves said that somehow the transgender shooter was still able to reach for a second firearm and died of a self-inflicted gunshot.
Dorgan was an employee of General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a shipbuilding facility in Bath, Maine, that contracts with the U.S. Navy, a shipyard spokesperson confirmed.
Co-workers said Dorgan often used the first name Roberta at work. One reported that Dorgan had a bad temper that sometimes led to screaming matches with colleagues.
Another co-worker said Dorgan appeared to be split on the issue of transgender acceptance, one second being proud of transitioning and the next, embarrassed.
