New details have emerged about the family relationship between ice rink shooter Robert Dorgan and his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, whom he killed during a shooting at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as reported [1] by The New York Post.
Robert Dorgan opened fire Monday at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, deliberately targeting members of his own family. Rhonda Dorgan and their son, Aidan, were killed in the attack.
Rhonda’s parents, Gerald and Linda Dorgan, were seriously injured and remain in critical condition.
According to records reviewed by the Providence Journal, Robert Dorgan and Rhonda Dorgan were first cousins once removed when they married in 1992.
Trans hockey shooter was cousins with the ex-wife he murdered at ice rink, records show https://t.co/9Xg9cKwyF5 [2] pic.twitter.com/ScnjK41Hby [3]
— Daily Mail US (@Daily_MailUS) February 19, 2026 [4]
The outlet reported that questions arose after it was discovered that the shooter shared the same last name as his ex-wife’s parents. A review of the 1950 Census helped clarify the family connections.
In 1950, Edward Dorgan and his wife, Eva Dorgan, were living in Smithfield, Rhode Island, with their two sons, Raymond Dorgan and Robert J. Dorgan.
Robert J. Dorgan was the father of the shooter, Robert Dorgan. Raymond Dorgan fathered Gerald Dorgan, who was injured in the shooting along with his wife, Linda.
Gerald and Linda Dorgan were the parents of Rhonda Dorgan. Based on those records, Edward Dorgan was the grandfather of the shooter and the great-grandfather of Rhonda, making Robert and Rhonda first cousins once removed.
Rhode Island is one of about 20 states that permit first cousins to marry. The state also allows avunculate marriage — between uncle and niece or aunt and nephew — under certain religious or cultural circumstances.
Authorities said Dorgan targeted his family during the game. After killing Rhonda and Aidan, he turned the gun on himself.
Dorgan and Rhonda divorced in 2021. Court documents show the divorce was initiated by Rhonda due to Robert’s gender reassignment surgery and “narcissistic + personality disorder traits.”
That wording was later crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences.”
The couple had three children together: Aidan, 23, who was pursuing an engineering degree; Ava, 20, a nursing student; and Colin, 17, who was playing the night of the attack. Dorgan had six children by three different women.
Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, 38, Dorgan’s daughter from a previous marriage, told The Post that her father had “struggled with demons” his entire life and had become alienated from much of the family because of erratic behavior.
She said she was at the arena during the shooting and locked eyes with her estranged father after the gunfire began. She believed she and her two young sons would be the next targets.
It has come out that the Pawtucket Rhode Island ice rink shooter was a trans Nazi, Robert Dorgan/Roberta Esposito. Unbelievable and sickening!!!
He shot his family, then shot up an ice rink during a youth hockey game, then killed himself.
Multiple sources confirm the Nazi… pic.twitter.com/oHOes5PPip [5]
— JJ ️ (@jesseyjay94) February 17, 2026 [6]
Investigators and media reports have also highlighted Dorgan’s extremist views. He had an “SS” Nazi tattoo on his right bicep, featuring a skull-and-bones “death’s head” logo associated with the Third Reich.
On social media, he described himself as “to the right of Adolf Hitler” and frequently shared Nazi-related content.
The Providence-based outlet WPRI reported that one of Dorgan’s sons from a previous marriage, Kevin Colantonio, 37, is serving a seven-year sentence [7] in a Texas federal prison for setting a series of fires at a predominantly black church in 2024.
Locals told the outlet that Dorgan influenced Colantonio’s views on race.
The investigation into the shooting remains ongoing as the community in Pawtucket continues to grapple with the violence that unfolded at the local high school hockey game.