Suspect’s birth name was Robert Dorgan, chief said
Suspect’s birth name was Robert Dorgan, chief said
Suspect’s birth name was Robert Dorgan, chief said
Police identified the shooter involved in a deadly assault inside a hockey rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, and credited a good Samaritan for helping to stop the attack.
Three people, including the suspected gunman, are dead, and officials said three others were injured in the shooting that happened during a scheduled hockey game at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena on Andrew D. Ferland Way just before 3 p.m. Monday.
According to Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves, the shooting may have been domestic in nature, as the victims included members of the suspect’s family and a family friend. Investigators believe the shooter fatally shot himself after the incident, Goncalves said.
“A good Samaritan stepped in and interjected in the scene, and that’s probably what led to a swift end of this tragic event,” Goncalves said.
Goncalves later said the shooter, born in 1969, was born Robert Dorgan, but also used the name Roberta and the surname Esposito.
More than one weapon was recovered from the scene, the chief also said.
Video: Good Samaritan credited with helping to stop attack
A number of schools, including St. Raphael Academy, Providence Country Day School, North Providence, and North Smithfield, were participating in a Blackstone Valley Schools co-op, playing against Coventry Public Schools at the time of the shooting. One of the schools was celebrating Senior Night, which honors senior student-athletes and their families during what is usually the final game of the season.
All of the schools involved in the game confirmed that their students and players were not injured in the shooting.
Video below: Chief IDs suspect
A 16-year-old goalie for the Coventry team said he was on the ice when shots rang out.
“I’m overwhelmed, but trying to stay calm,” he said. “You don’t know what it feels like until you’re in it.”
In the wake of the shooting, the Rhode Island Interscholastic League announced that it was temporarily suspending all games “out of respect for the victims and to reflect upon this senseless act of violence.”
Video: Hockey players raced across ice after shots fired in arena
A bus filled with hockey players, parents and family members who were inside the arena at the time of the shooting was taken to the Pawtucket Police Headquarters. Mayor Donald Grebien said investigators had conducted about 100 interviews in the hours after the incident.
A woman who was seen leaving the Pawtucket Police Department after the shooting told NewsCenter 5 that her father was the shooter.
“My father was the shooter,” she said, without giving her name. “He shot my family, and he’s dead now.”
She also said, “He has mental health issues.”
Later Monday evening, investigators were seen towing a white van from the parking lot outside the arena, which is located less than two miles from the Rhode Island-Massachusetts border.
The shooting happened just two months after a gunman opened fire at the Barus and Holley engineering building on the Brown University campus in Providence, killing two students.
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