{"id":473479,"date":"2026-02-17T08:22:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:22:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/473479\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T08:22:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T08:22:07","slug":"rhode-island-hockey-shooter-idd-as-transgender-father-robert-dorgan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/473479\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhode Island hockey shooter ID’d as transgender father Robert Dorgan"},"content":{"rendered":"

Police identified the gunman who killed two people and critically injured three others at a high school hockey game in Rhode Island<\/a> on Monday afternoon as Robert Dorgan, a transgender dad who railed against anti-trans hate in family legal disputes and deranged social media rants. <\/p>\n

The 56-year-old father,\u00a0who shot four family\u00a0members and a family friend before he turned the gun on himself following the deadly rampage at the Pawtucket ice rink, used the female alias Roberta Esposito,\u00a0Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said during a press conference Monday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have identified the person, the suspect, by a birth name, the birth name was Robert Dorgan,\u201d Goncalves said. \u201cWe have also learned that the person does go by the name of Roberta, also uses a last\u00a0name of Esposito.\u201d<\/p>\n

Robert Dorgan is the father of a North Providence High School senior who was competing in the hockey\u00a0tournament where he carried out his deadly rampage. Roberta Dorgano\/X<\/p>\n

The night before the suspect stormed the hockey tournament with a gun, he ominously replied, \u201ckeep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK\u201d in response to an anti-trans X post. <\/p>\n

Dorgan, the father of a North Providence High School senior who was competing in the hockey\u00a0tournament, reportedly underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2020, according to court filings obtained by local station WPRI<\/a>. <\/p>\n

His transgender identity appeared to be a source of multiple family court battles in the years before Monday\u2019s targeted shooting that cops said was the result of a domestic dispute.<\/p>\n

His ex-wife filed for divorce in 2020, on grounds of \u201cgender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits,\u201d according to the court filing obtained by the local outlet. The reasoning was later replaced with \u201cirreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage,\u201d the outlet reported. <\/p>\n

The 56-year-old father, seen at a previous hockey game, used the alias Roberta Esposito. X\/@VerdadEsPoder<\/p>\n

Police stand outside the perimeter they created around the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, where a shooting occurred earlier today in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Feb. 16, 2026. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

Their split was finalized in 2021. The fatal victims of Monday\u2019s shooting include the mother of Dorgan\u2019s hockey player son and the student athlete\u2019s sibling, multiple sources told WPRI<\/a>. It\u2019s unclear if his ex is the same woman he gunned down.<\/p>\n

Also in 2020, Dorgan showed up at 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, the publication reported.<\/p>\n

He said his father-in-law used a slur for transgender people to say no such individual was \u201cgoing to stay in my house,\u201d the gunman told cops.<\/p>\n

People embrace and walk away as police stand outside the perimeter they created around the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Feb. 16, 2026. AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n

He also bizarrely claimed that his in-law had threatened to \u201chave him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence,\u201d where he had lived for seven years, according to the court docs.<\/p>\n

An X account appearing to belong to the crazed trans shooter is full of thousands of unhinged posts, including ones railing against anti-trans hate as well as several antisemitic, pro-Nazi and racist rants.<\/p>\n

In a Feb. 15 response to a post calling openly trans US Rep. Sarah McBride a man, Dorgan chillingly wrote \u201ckeep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.\u201d<\/p>\n

In other X posts, he offered his support for the Second Amendment and ICE and his disdain for abortion.<\/p>\n

Dorgan was reportedly armed with multiple guns during the ice rink shooting.<\/p>\n

Goncalves praised a \u201cGood Samaritan\u201d who she said stepped in and \u201cattempted to subdue\u201d Dorgan. Witnesses said the man \u2014 the father of another hockey player \u2014 disarmed Dorgan, but he had a backup firearm, both of which police retrieved at the scene.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dorgan took his own life at the scene of the shooting Monday, police said.<\/p>\n

Livestream footage captured the moment Dorgan opened fire at the hockey game. EricRueb\/X<\/p>\n

Three victims are still in critical condition as of Monday night.\u00a0<\/p>\n

A woman who was seen leaving the Pawtucket police station earlier in the day\u00a0said the gunman was her father<\/a>, who \u201chas mental health issues\u201d and was \u201cvery sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe shot my family, and he\u2019s dead now,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Harrowing livestream footage<\/a>\u00a0that captured the unfolding chaos showed clumps of spectators scrambling to the exit while others rushed to aid the victims. One witness told CBS News that she saw someone attempting CPR on the victims.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dorgan\u2019s transgender identity appeared to be a source of multiple family court battles in the years before Monday\u2019s targeted shooting that cops said was the result of a domestic dispute. X\/@VerdadEsPoder<\/p>\n

Dorgan is the father of a North Providence High School senior who was competing in the hockey\u00a0tournament. Credit: Roberta Dorgano\/X<\/p>\n

Dorgan is said to have had \u201cmental health issues\u201d and was \u201cvery sick.\u201d X\/@VerdadEsPoder<\/p>\n

Dorgan, father of a North Providence senior, shot his son\u2019s mother and a sibling at Lynch Arena. Roberta Dorgano\/X<\/p>\n

Police responded to the scene around 2:30 p.m. \u2014 just two minutes after receiving the first call, according to the police chief.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0law enforcement is working in tandem with the Rhode Island Attorney General\u2019s Office \u201cto ensure the facts are fully established\u201d before making any other announcements.<\/p>\n

\u201cPawtucket 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,\u201d Grebien said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Police identified the gunman who killed two people and critically injured three others at a high school hockey…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":473480,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4,450,451,35501,3,880,4382,452,453,59064,194],"class_list":{"0":"post-473479","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-breaking-news","8":"tag-breaking-news","9":"tag-breakingnews","10":"tag-headlines","11":"tag-mass-shootings","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-rhode-island","14":"tag-shootings","15":"tag-top-stories","16":"tag-topstories","17":"tag-transgender","18":"tag-us-news"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473479","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=473479"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/473479\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/473480"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=473479"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=473479"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=473479"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}