Police have identified [1] the gunman who killed two people and critically injured three others at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday afternoon as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said during a press conference Monday night that Dorgan used the female alias Roberta Esposito.
“We have identified the person, the suspect, by a birth name, the birth name was Robert Dorgan,” Goncalves said.
“We have also learned that the person does go by the name of Roberta, also uses a last name of Esposito.”
Authorities said Dorgan shot four family members and a family friend before turning the gun on himself at the Pawtucket ice rink.
Police responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m., just two minutes after receiving the first call, according to the police chief.
Dorgan was the father of a North Providence High School senior who was competing in the hockey tournament.
According to court filings obtained by local station WPRI, Dorgan reportedly underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2020.
Court records obtained by WPRI show his ex-wife filed for divorce in 2020 on grounds of “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits.”
The filing was later amended to state “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage,” the outlet reported.
The divorce was finalized in 2021.
Multiple sources told WPRI that the fatal victims include the mother of Dorgan’s hockey player son and the student athlete’s sibling.
Also in 2020, Dorgan went to the North Providence Police Department and reported that his father-in-law wanted him out of their North Providence home because of his gender reassignment surgery, according to the publication.
Dorgan told police that his father-in-law used a slur for transgender people and said no such individual was “going to stay in my house.”
Court documents further show that Dorgan claimed his in-law had threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence,” where he had lived for seven years.
Police described Monday’s shooting as the result of a domestic dispute.
An X account appearing to belong to Dorgan contains thousands of posts, including messages railing against anti-trans hate, as well as antisemitic, pro-Nazi, and racist content.
In a Feb. 15 response to a post referring to openly transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride as a man, Dorgan wrote, “keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.”
“keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK”
The Pawtucket, R.I. mass sh—ter at the school hockey game is confirmed to be yet again a trans person.
Robert “Roberta” Dorgan shot five people, killing two and critically injuring three others. Four of the five shooting… pic.twitter.com/Quy9avQ3ot [2]
— Andy Ngo (@MrAndyNgo) February 17, 2026 [3]
The night before the shooting, he posted the same message in response to an anti-trans X post.
Other posts from the account show support for the Second Amendment and ICE, along with opposition to abortion.
Police said Dorgan was armed with multiple guns during the shooting at the ice rink. Goncalves praised a “Good Samaritan” who she said stepped in and “attempted to subdue” Dorgan.
Witnesses said the man, identified as the father of another hockey player, disarmed Dorgan. Authorities later determined Dorgan had a backup firearm. Police retrieved both weapons at the scene.
Dorgan took his own life at the scene, police said.
Three victims remained in critical condition as of Monday night.
A woman seen leaving the Pawtucket police station earlier in the day identified the gunman as her father.
She said he “has mental health issues” and was “very sick.”
“He shot my family, and he’s dead now,” she said.
Livestream footage captured the chaos inside the rink as spectators ran toward the exits while others attempted to assist the wounded.
One witness told CBS News that she saw someone attempting CPR on the victims.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien said law enforcement is working with the Rhode Island Attorney General’s Office “to ensure the facts are fully established” before making further announcements.
“Pawtucket is a strong and resilient community, but tonight we are a city in mourning. We will stand together to support all those affected in the difficult days ahead, and we will keep the public updated as confirmed facts become available,” Grebien said.