The teenage son of a shooter who opened fire during a high school hockey game in Rhode Island on Monday, killing two family members and injuring several others, was still on the ice when the shooting began, according to video.
The boy, a senior defenseman and team captain for Blackstone Valley Schools, was skating backward at center ice when the shots rang out Monday afternoon at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, according to The New York Post on Tuesday.
Video from the game shows the boy briefly turning his head toward the sound of gunfire coming from the stands, just feet from where he was positioned on the ice.
He then skated quickly toward the rink exit alongside other players and a referee as they sought safety.
Authorities said the shooter, identified as Robert Dorgan, 56, a transgender person who also went by the name of Roberta Esposito, opened fire around 2:30 p.m. during a tournament game involving six schools.
Police described the incident as a targeted family dispute.
According to reports, Dorgan shot his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, their children, and a family friend in the stands, before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
The mother died at the scene, and one of the children, whose age was not reported, died at a nearby hospital.
Three other people, including two relatives and a family friend, were critically injured.
A woman who identified herself as Dorgan's daughter told reporters outside the Pawtucket Police Department that her "father was the shooter," adding that he had struggled with mental health issues.
"He shot my family, and he's dead now," she said. "He was very sick."
A livestream of the game captured spectators and players diving to the floor as approximately 11 shots were fired.
Players on the bench scrambled to escape, with some removing their skates as they pushed out of the box. Others climbed over the rink barrier and ran toward the locker rooms.
Witnesses initially believed the sounds were balloons popping or players banging their skates against the boards, CBS News reported.
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 releasing additional information.
The FBI's Boston field office is assisting in the investigation, FBI Director Kash Patel said on X.
On the night before the shooting, Dorgan posted a message on X criticizing someone for referring to transgender Democrat Rep. Sarah McBride as a man, reported the Post.
In it, Dorgan wrote: "Keep bashing us. But do not wonder why we Go BERSERK."
According to court records, Dorgan had a history of family disputes, including conflicts over gender identity, reported WPRI.
In early 2020, Dorgan contacted the North Providence Police Department about a dispute with his then-father-in-law following gender reassignment surgery.
The father-in-law was eventually charged with intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes and obstruction of justice, but the charges were later dismissed.
Around the same time, Dorgan's then-wife filed for divorce, initially listing as grounds "gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic personality disorder traits."
The reasons were crossed and replaced with "irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage."
The divorce was finalized in June 2021, according to court records.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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