Assailant in Pawtucket hockey rink shooting killed ex-wife and son, family says

Local News

One of the shooter’s children said her grandparents and a family friend were also wounded in Monday’s shooting.

By Abby Patkin

February 17, 2026 | 2:48 PM

2 minutes to read

Rhonda Dorgan and Aidan Dorgan, the shooter’s ex-wife and son, were the two people killed Monday afternoon when Robert Dorgan opened fire at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, according to family members.

Robert Dorgan — who also used the name Roberta and the surname Esposito — apparently died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound during the violent incident at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, authorities have said. Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves previously confirmed the two victims killed Monday “appear to be adults” and were related to the shooter, describing the incident as a “family dispute.”

Speaking to The Boston Globe Tuesday, Dorgan’s 20-year-old daughter, Ava Dorgan, confirmed her mother and older brother were shot and killed. Dorgan said her maternal grandparents, Linda and Jerry Dorgan, and a family friend were wounded and remain hospitalized in critical condition.

While Pawtucket police have not yet named the shooting victims, their identities were also confirmed on a GoFundMe page created to raise money for Ava Dorgan and a surviving brother, a 17-year-old high school senior.

“The weight of this loss is something no one should ever have to bear, especially at such young ages,” wrote Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, who identified herself as the siblings’ half-sister and Rhonda Dorgan’s stepdaughter. The fundraiser is meant to help cover basic living expenses and education costs, according to the description.

“Every contribution, no matter the size, will help ease their burden and provide some stability as they navigate this difficult time,” Wallace-Hubbard wrote. 

Court records indicate Rhonda Dorgan filed for divorce from Robert Dorgan in February 2020, with the case finalized a year later. 

In a filing obtained by WCVB, Rhonda Dorgan wrote she was seeking the divorce due to “Gender reassignment surgery narcissitic [sic] + personality disorder traits.” Those words were ultimately crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which caused the irretrievable breakdown of the marriage,” the news outlet reported. 

A family member who spoke to NBC 10 WJAR said Robert Dorgan struggled with mental health throughout adulthood.

During an appearance on the radio station WPRO Tuesday, Charles Lombardi — the mayor of North Providence, where the Dorgan family lived — described the shooting as “a sad, sad situation.” 

“It wasn’t a situation where our police department was responding to the home regularly,” Lombardi said. “That would have lit the flag, or raised the flag, so to say, that we would have had to keep our eye on them. But that isn’t the situation.”

He added: “Whatever their issues were, personally or within the family, we weren’t aware of that, so to say.”

Abby Patkin is a general assignment news reporter whose work touches on public transit, crime, health, and everything in between.