(Image: NBC 4 Columbus)
A woman has said she believes her father, who has mental health issues, was the gunman to have shot five people and killed two at a Rhode Island high school hockey tournament on Monday afternoon.
The woman, who did not provide her name, provided the information after exiting the Pawtucket Police Department with a man and a child.
"He shot my family, and he's dead now," she said.
The father shot Dennis M. Lynch Arena on Andrew D. Ferland Way during a high school hockey game on Monday. In the livestream video, shots are heard multiple times. The hockey players stop quickly and exit the rink as people are heard screaming. The suspect was among the three who died at the shooting while three others were wounded. The Mirror US reported that shots were reportedly fired from the stands behind the Blackstone Valley Schools bench. Police and emergency medical personnel rushed to the arena to assist the wounded and secure the scene.
Walgreens employees said children ran into their store after the shooting. The pharmacy evacuated and the children were hiding until help arrived.
It was later confirmed by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) that the shooting was tied to a domestic dispute, with the armed father allegedly shooting and killing his wife and two children. His third child is hospitalised, a source with the ATF told Fox News.
Hockey fans react near the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I., after a shooting at the ice rink, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)(Image: AP)
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the shooter was born Robert Dorgan, but also used the name Roberta and the surname Esposito. She also added the shooting was a targeted event.
“It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute,” she said.
Meanwhile, the unidentified woman said the shooter, who she claims is his father, has struggled with mental health for some time and was “very sick.” It wasn’t specified what type of sickness he had.
People embrace and walk away as police stand outside the perimeter they created around the Dennis M. Lynch Arena where a shooting occurred in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on February 16, 2026. (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The woman said she did not know who was killed but was going to the hospital next.
Unverified footage circulating on social media shows players diving for cover and fans fleeing their seats after popping sounds are heard.
Tearful families and high school hockey players still in uniform were seen hugging before they boarded a bus to leave the area. The shooting in Pawtucket is roughly 5.7 miles away from Providence and right under the Massachusetts state border.
The shooting comes nearly two months after Rhode Island suffered from gun violence at Brown University, where a gunman killed two students and injured nine others.
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