By Isabella McHugh
Staff Writer
Three audience members were shot and killed at a high school hockey game in Rhode Island on Feb. 16, according to AP News.
Two of the victims were identified as Rhonda and Aidan Dorgan, the suspect’s ex-wife and son, Fox News reported. The third victim was more recently pronounced dead. He has been identified as Gerald Dorgan, Rhonda’s father and Aidan’s grandfather according to Fox News.
Rhonda's mother and father, as well as a family friend, were in critical condition and rushed to the hospital after being shot, according to BBC News.
The suspect, Robert Dorgan, was allegedly transgender and also went by Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgan, the police reported. The suspect was found dead inside the Dennis M Lynch Arena from what appeared to be a self inflicted gunshot wound, wrote BBC News.
Rhonda and Robert were married for nearly 30 years prior to her filing for divorce, according to AP News. Court filings show that Rhonda originally wrote “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as reasons for divorce. She later crossed that out and instead put “irreconcilable differences which have caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage.”
There are also documents which show that the pair shared the same last name prior to being married, but no further information has been provided on that matter, according to AP News.
On X, Robert wrote that Rhonda “hates the person who stole her husband,” and a year later wrote “Transwoman, 6 kids : wife – not thrilled.”
Only a day prior to the shooting, Robert responded to anti-transgender posts by actor Kevin Sorbo and Infowars conspiracy theorist, Alex Jones, by saying the turmoil of criticism against transgender people is “why we Go BERSERK,” AP News reported.
Robert had watched many hockey games in the past without an incident, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves alleges, AP News reported.
Robert's daughter, Amanda Wallace-Hubbard alleges that the suspect had a “vendetta” against their family. “I just want to make sure people understand this was one person’s vendetta against their family,” she said, “we were targeted. This was very specific. It wasn’t random.” She is Robert's daughter from a separate relationship.
Wallace-Hubbard was seated in the stands with the rest of the family when the suspect opened fire, Fox News reported. She was with her two young boys.
Wallace-Hubbard extended her thanks to an unidentified good samaritan, who she credits with saving her and her sons’ lives, Fox News reported. In a video of the incident, he is seen tackling Robert.
“I’m certain my sons and I are alive because of him,”Wallace-Hubbard said.“Until that good Samaritan incapacitated him, I really feared that my sons were next,” she told Fox News.
The police found two guns at the scene: aGlock 10mm pistol and a SIG Sauer P226.Both weapons were legally owned, BBC reported.
The video showed a horrific scene of people screaming and scrambling out of their seats during the game. The sounds of over a dozen shots are heard amidst the noise, according to Fox News.
“It’s absolutely mind-boggling that this could happen to people we know and love and support through everything,” Amy Goulet said. She is the mother of another hockey player in that community.
Michael Steven, who recorded a video after the shooting said this type of tragedy “happens far too often in our nation.”
