The suspect, Robert Dorgan, shot his son and his son’s mother before turning the gun on himself.
The suspect in the Pawtucket, R.I., ice rink shooting was transgender, according to court documents, and had been feuding with his family for years over his decision to identify as a woman.
Robert Dorgan, 56, killed himself after shooting his son and his son’s mother, and injuring three others during a hockey game between two local schools, Coventry and Blackstone Valley.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the shooting arose out of a “family dispute” at a press conference on Monday. Court documents obtained by the local Rhode Island news outlet WPRI detailed an extensive conflict between Dorgan, who allegedly went by “Roberta,” and his family over his transgender identity.
Dorgan went to the police in 2020 to report that his father-in-law insisted he leave the family home, citing Dorgan’s recent gender transition surgery.
Court documents revealed that Dorgan’s father-in-law said he would have his son-in-law “murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence.”
The father-in-law also allegedly used derogatory words to describe Dorgan and his identity, and insisted that a transgender person was not “going to stay in my house.”
Dorgan’s father-in-law was eventually charged with intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes and obstruction of the judicial system, but the charges were dismissed.
Rhonda Dorgan, Robert Dorgan’s ex-wife, filed for divorce around the same time as Dorgan’s conflict with her father.
Divorce paperwork shows that the reason for the divorce was “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits,” yet those reasons were crossed out, and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”
The couple’s divorce was finalized in June 2021, after which Dorgan was noted to be living in Jacksonville, Fla., and working as a truck driver.
Around the same time as the conflict between Dorgan and his father-in-law, he also accused his mother of assaulting him and acting in a “violent, threatening or tumultuous manner.” Dorgan’s mother was charged with simple assault and battery and disorderly conduct.
Following the charges against Dorgan’s mother, he told police that his father-in-law “told me [Dorgan] that if I did not drop the assault charges against my mother that further retaliation could be expected and that was another reason to have me killed.”
The case against Dorgan’s mother was similarly dismissed.
The Pawtucket Police Department did not respond to National Review‘s request for comment by the time of publication.
The incident in Rhode Island is the latest in a string of recent shootings carried out by transgender-identifying perpetrators.
Just last week, another trans-identifying individual was determined to be the suspect of a school shooting. Jesse Van Rootselaar, an 18-year-old ex-student who identified as a woman, shot and killed at least eight people and wounded dozens after entering a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia. Rootselaar also shot and killed his mother and step-brother before going to the school.
Police had visited Rootselaar’s “residence on multiple occasions over the past several years, dealing with concerns of mental health with respect to our suspect,” said Dwayne McDonald, the deputy police commissioner. Police are not aware of a motive at this time. McDonald did explain, however, that Rootselaar was apprehended and assessed for mental health concerns multiple times before the shooting.
In March 2023, a woman who identified as a man shot and killed three nine-year-old children at a Christian school in Tennessee.
Last fall, Charlie Kirk’s alleged assassin at Utah Valley University was romantically involved with a man who identified as transgender.
Tyler Robinson is facing a slew of charges for allegedly shooting Kirk in the neck during one of the conservative influencer’s campus events. Robinson had notably become more political in recent years, according to family members.
“In the conversation with another family member, Robinson mentioned Charlie Kirk was coming to UVU. They talked about why they didn’t like him and the viewpoints that he had,” Utah Governor Spencer Cox said. Bullet casings used to shoot at Kirk were inscribed with messages, including “Hey, fascist! Catch!” and “If you read this, you are gay.”