Transgender Dad Shoots Wife & 3 Kids In ‘Family Dispute’ At Ice Hockey Game In Rhode Island
Police have identified the suspect responsible for the horrific shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island last night as Robert Dorgan AKA Roberta Esposito.
The transgender father shot four family members and a family friend at a high school hockey game, killing two and injuring three others before turning the gun on himself:
NEW: The man who opened fire in a Rhode Island ice arena shot and killed his wife and shot two of his kids before turning the gun on himself, according to Fox News.
— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) February 16, 2026
The incident is being called a "domestic violence" altercation that turned deadly, according to the outlet.
All… pic.twitter.com/QXKOMa3D9M
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said during a press conference last night: “We have identified the person, the suspect, by a birth name, the birth name was Robert Dorgan.
“We have also learned that the person does go by the name of Roberta, also uses a last name of Esposito.”
A few hours before storming the hockey tournament with a gun, the father ominously replied to an anti-trans X post with the following: “keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK”
Dorgan, who had a son playing in the tournament, underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2020, according to local station WPRI.
That same year, his wife filed for divorce on grounds of “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” and “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”
Also in 2020, Dorgan showed up to the North Providence Police Department and reported that his father-in-law had called him a “tr***y” and threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the family residence.”
The fatal victims of Monday’s shooting include the mother of Dorgan’s hockey player son and the student athlete’s sibling.
Just an absolutely horrific situation and very unfortunate timing as far as the transgender community is concerned, given it was only a week ago that another trans individual shot up a school in Canada.
Obviously we can’t go around tarring every transgender person as an unhinged lunatic who would be capable of something like this, but it’s very clear that Robert Dorgan AKA Roberta Esposito had a screw loose and perhaps his social media activity offered a clue that he might go on to do something like this.
RIP to the victims and thoughts with everyone else affected by this tragedy.
