Suspect identified in shooting at Rhode Island High School Hockey Game

Three are dead and three others are in critical condition following the incident at an ice rink

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves talks to reporters at a press conference in the parking lot of an auto parts store near the ice rink where a deadly shooting happened Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. / Providence Journal-USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn images

Police have identified the suspect involved in the shooting at a high school hockey game on Monday in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

Police Identify Robert Dorgan as the Alleged Shooter

According to The Providence Journal, the shooter was identified as Robert Dorgan, 56, who was also known as Roberta Esposito.

Three people, including the suspect, are dead following a gunfire incident around 2:30 p.m. Monday at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena.

The shooting also left three people hospitalized with gunshot wounds and in critical condition, which The Providence Journal reported is still the case as of 9:39 a.m. Tuesday.

Shooter May Have Targeted His Own Family

According to Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves, the shooter died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Goncalves repeatedly declined to give further information on the suspect, or the victims shot in the incident. Some media outlets, including WCVB 5 in Boston, have identified the other two fatalities as Dorgan's son and ex-wife.

“It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute,” she said on Monday via the Associated Press.

Goncalves continued, “We cannot release the names of the victims because obviously, we want to speak to the family, make sure the family is well aware of what happened before we release (more) information publicly.”

A Night of Celebration Turned Tragic

Before the shooting, the Blackstone Valley hockey team celebrated Senior Night as they faced Coventry-Johnston in a regular-season contest.

According to a description by the New York Times, gunfire echoed inside the arena. Players on the benches ducked for cover behind the boards. Benches in the arena cleared out within seconds, and teams leaped over the boards and skated toward exits on the opposite side of the rink.

“I was on the ice, and I thought it was balloons at first,” said Olin Lawrence, a sophomore on the Coventry hockey team, via News10 NBC WJAR. “It was like, bop, bop. And I thought it was balloons, but it just kept going. And it was actually gunshots. And after the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room, and we just bunkered up and we pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe down there. But, no, it was very scary.”

The Providence Journal detailed that the roads were open along Ferland Way, where Lynch Arena is located, in Pawtucket on Tuesday morning.

Since late Monday evening, police have interviewed more than 100 witnesses, reviewed dozens of videos of the shooting and retrieved firearms at the ice rink.

High School on SI’s initial report of the incident can be found here.

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