The transgender-identifying man who opened fire on his own family during a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has been identified as 56-year-old Robert K. Dorgan of North Providence, a biological male who called himself Roberta Esposito or Roberta Dorgano and claimed to be a woman.
According to Gateway Pundit, Dorgan was the parent of a North Providence High School player and was seated in the stands at Lynch Arena on Monday when he allegedly carried out the deadly attack. The shooting unfolded in full view of students, parents, and spectators, shattering what should have been an ordinary school sporting event and raising renewed questions about mental health, domestic turmoil, and the radicalization of gender ideology.
On social media, Dorgan had openly embraced a transgender identity and expressed rage toward those critical of the movement, even as he claimed to hold right-of-center political views. The day before the shooting, he posted on X in response to commentator Alex Jones, blaming public skepticism of transgenderism for violent outbursts by those who identify as trans.
Dorgan wrote, stfu Alex dont be so butt hurtt over somebody different. then wonder why trans ppl go fkn BERSERK, after Jones described a photo of transgender Rep. Tim McBride as so creepy. In another post, he lashed out at actor Kevin Sorbo, declaring, Keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.
Despite his extreme rhetoric and transgender identity, Dorgan appeared to identify as a conservative voter, illustrating the deep personal conflict and instability that can accompany such radical self-reinvention. He had this reporter blocked on X but had previously replied to Gateway Pundit, insisting he was a post-operative transgenderstating he had his male genitalia removedand that he remained a Trump supporter in 2024.
Online, he frequently praised libertarian-leaning Republican Rep. Thomas Massie, suggesting that his political leanings did not align neatly with the progressive movement that aggressively champions transgender ideology. Journalist Aidan Kearney highlighted that Dorgan had publicly discussed the toll his transition took on his marriage, sharing a revealing post about his wifes anguish.
My wife says she Hates the person who stole her husband. I think its extremely important to take special care of those who stand by us. Listen and understand what they are going through for our sake! the killer wrote. The message underscored the emotional devastation often borne by spouses and families when a husband and father abruptly rejects his biological sex and family role in favor of a new identity.
Authorities say that on Monday afternoon, that turmoil exploded into deadly violence when Dorgan opened fire on his own relatives during the hockey game. The transgender shooter killed his wife and daughter before turning the gun on himself in what police have described as a deliberate, targeted attack.
According to multiple reports, Dorgan shot five family members in the stands as horrified onlookers scrambled for safety. His wife, the mother of the player on the ice, died at the scene, while his daughter was rushed to the hospital but later succumbed to her injuries.
Three additional relatives were critically wounded and transported to Rhode Island Hospital, where they remain under treatment. The couples son, who was playing in the game at the time of the shooting, was not physically harmed but witnessed the aftermath of the carnage inflicted by his own father.
Local station WPRI reported that the family had a long and troubled history of domestic disputes tied directly to Dorgans gender transition. Court records from 2020 show that Dorgan went to the North Providence Police Department to complain that his father-in-law wanted him out of the family home after his so-called gender-reassignment surgery.
Dorgan told officers that his father-in-law, also named Dorgan, had threatened to have him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence, according to court documents. He further alleged that his wifes father told him, theres no goddam [sic] way a tranny is going to stay in my house.
The father-in-law was charged with intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes and obstruction of the judicial system, but prosecutors later dismissed the case. The episode highlighted the intense conflict within the household as traditional family members resisted the forced acceptance of Dorgans new identity.
Around the same period, Dorgans then-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, filed for divorce, initially citing his transition and personality issues as the basis. Under grounds for divorce, Rhonda first wrote, gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits, before those words were crossed out and replaced with the more generic phrase irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.
Their divorce was finalized in 2021, formally ending the marriage that Dorgan himself admitted had been devastated by his transition. That same year, he also accused his own mother of assault, leading to charges of simple assault and battery and disorderly conduct that were later dismissed, further illustrating a pattern of family conflict and instability.
Local outlet Whats Going On in Rhode Island was among the first to publicly identify Dorgan as the shooter, citing eyewitness accounts from the arena. Witnesses at the arena told Whats Going On in Rhode Island that the shooter entered the rink carrying two pink-colored firearms and a holster, and that some people initially believed the weapons were not real. Authorities have not publicly confirmed those details, the outlet reported.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalve described the incident as a targeted family dispute, making clear that investigators believe the attack was aimed specifically at Dorgans relatives rather than the broader public. A woman who identified herself as his daughter, though she declined to give her name, spoke briefly to reporters outside the Pawtucket Police Department.
He shot my family and hes dead now, she said, summing up the horror in stark, devastating terms. He has mental health issues, she added, calling him very sick, a description that will likely fuel debate over how much of this tragedy stems from untreated psychological problems and how much from a culture that encourages vulnerable individuals to embrace radical gender identities instead of addressing underlying disorders.
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