Robert Dorgan, Rhode Island trans dad shoots and kills ex wife, Rhonda Dorgan and son, Aidan Dorgan during brother’s high school iced hockey game in Pawtucket, along with critically injuring three others and then killing self. Gun violence tied to dad’s gender identity crises and transition.
Officials have identified the two family victims shot and killed at the hands of their trans father, during a high school iced hockey game in Rhode Island.
Aidan Dorgan, the shooter’s engineer 23-year-old son was killed along side his mother, Rhonda Dorgan, 52, the ex shooter’s wife. The mother and son were slain at the Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles outside Providence, on Monday afternoon.
Trans shooter dad threatened to go ‘BERSERK’ day before shooting
Pawtucket Ice rink shooting suspect social media profile was Republican fan
Both mother and son were slain at the hands of Robert Dorgan, 56, also going by the name of Roberta Esposito. At the time of the shooting, Dorgan had come to watch his other son play in the mixed high school hockey teams but is believed to have come with ulterior motives after family members would be gathering under the same at the location.
Surviving family members included, Colin Dorgan, 17, who was on the rink at the time of the shooting. The teen who was the captain of the Blackstone Valley Schools‘ hockey team, watched from the sidelines as his dad shot a volley of 11-12 shots.
Also surviving was Colin’s sister, Ava Dorgan, a 20-year-old nursing student.
During a news conference on Tuesday, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves described the attack as ‘very targeted,’ noting Robert Dorgan approached the family ‘individually’ and fired at them.
The family was sitting in the bleachers during the shooting, but police said it appeared there was no conversation or confrontation between the suspect and the victims before descending from the back bleachers and opened fire on family members.
Pawtucket shooter wife filed for divorce after undergoing gender reassignment surgery
Along with shooting the mother and son, Dorgan critically injured three other family members, including the shooter’s former mother-in-law and father-in-law, before turning the murder weapon on himself, WCVB reported.
The police chief explained Robert Dorgan had been to his son’s hockey games in the past, and that his presence Monday was not ‘unusual.’
‘There was no indication from the family or friends that any violence was underway, or that they were in fear of this specific individual,’ Goncalves said. ‘… We continue to look into what the motivation was. We’re not sure at this point what the trigger event was that happened yesterday.’
While officials have yet to say what necessary led to Dorgan to target his own family, it is thought the gunman harbored resentment tied to a fractured family life related to him undergoing a gender reassignment surgery in 2020 and the man’s wife, Rhonda filing for divorce.
At the time according to court documents, Dorgan faced an avalanche of of criticism and alleged threats from family members including from his former father in law and own mother after deciding to transition from biological male to female.
At the time of Monday’s tragic shooting, Dorgan was wearing female clothing and was at the time of the shooting seen carrying two pink-colored firearms and a holster, and that some people initially believed the weapons were not real.
