Three people are dead and three others are wounded after a mass shooting at an ice hockey rink in Pawtucket on Monday afternoon.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the three people pronounced dead included the alleged shooter, who she said died from a self-inflicted gunshot, and two victims she said are likely related to the shooter. Identifying information is being withheld until officials can notify the victims’ families.
At a 9:30 p.m. press conference, Goncalves identified the suspect as Robert Dorgan. Goncalves also said the suspect used the name Roberta Esposito.
Goncalves hailed a bystander, whom she did not name, who intervened after the suspect started shooting. “And that's probably what led to a swift end of this tragic event earlier today,” Goncalves said.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien said the investigation into the shooting remained active and urged anyone with information about the incident to contact Pawtucket police.
“Pawtucket is a resilient community, but tonight we are a city in mourning,” Grebien said.
When the shooting began on Monday, students from several Rhode Island high schools were playing a 2 p.m. game at the arena. It was Senior Night, according to Grebien, for the Blackstone Valley Schools co-operative boys hockey team, which includes athletes from St. Raphael Academy, Providence Country Day and the public high schools of North Providence and North Smithfield. They were playing a co-operative team from Coventry/Johnston.
A superintendent for Coventry’s public school system, Don Cowart, said all students from that town are accounted for and safe.
Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee called the events “tragic.”
“Our state is grieving again,” McKee said in a statement. “As Governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students, and everyone impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket.”
The Rhode Island Interscholastic League said Monday evening that it would temporarily suspend all interscholastic games out of respect for the victims.
The Pawtucket shooting comes just two months after the deadly mass shooting at Brown University in Providence, in which two students were killed and nine others were wounded. That resulted in a multi-day manhunt for a suspect.
Pawtucket resident Shawn Moore was among those who gathered near the roped-off arena on Monday afternoon. He said he was in disbelief when he heard news of the shooting.
“The Lynch Arena of all places,” Moore said. “This is something that is shocking. The community from everything that I’m seeing, the responses I’m getting online, is shocked.”
This story has been updated with additional information provided from a 9:30 p.m. press conference.
