Robert Dorgan, 56, opened fire inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday afternoon, killing his ex-wife, 52-year-old Rhonda Dorgan, and their 23-year-old son, Aidan Dorgan. The gunman was stopped by Good Samaritans but then died by suicide, police said. Three other people, the ex-wife's parents and a family friend, were wounded and remained in critical condition.
The shooting turned a high school senior night celebration into a crime scene. The family was at the ice rink watching a younger brother play hockey for the Blackstone Valley Schools co-op hockey program. Now, Aidan's two siblings, his brother who is a high school hockey player and his sister who is studying to be a nurse, are left behind without either parent.
In the days since, a picture of the killer has emerged that defies easy media categorization. A Facebook account named Roberta Esposito, widely linked to the suspect but not confirmed as belonging to them, contains multiple photos and videos showing tattoos. The suspect seems to have a tattoo of a Totenkopf (skull) and two lightning bolts, symbols associated with Nazi Germany. And social media posts reveal a history of spewing antisemitic and racist rhetoric online.
Photos show that Robert Dorgan, who went by the name Roberta Esposito, inked a large SS symbol on his right arm, representing the Schutzstaffel paramilitary organization under Nazi Germany. In the middle of Dorgan's arm tattoo featuring bright-red pseudo-runic letters appears a white skull and crossbones with glowing red eyes, known as the Totenkopf, or "death's head" skull.
According to the Anti-Defamation League, the death's head symbol was used in Nazi Germany by a branch of the SS "whose purpose was to guard the concentration camps." The ADL notes that neo-Nazis and other white supremacists resurrected the Totenkopf as a hate symbol because of its importance to the SS, and the two lightning bolts seen in the suspect's tattoo are also associated with white supremacist ideology.
The tattoo wasn't hidden. It was displayed openly on his bicep in social media photos, paired with a smile.
The online presence linked to Dorgan matched the ink. The day before his rampage at the hockey rink, Dorgan posted an anti-Asian slur as he replied to a video praising Adolf Hitler, The U.S Sun reported. In other replies, he made repeated references to "white power" and "white pride world wide." He also retweeted footage of people doing the "Sieg Heil" Nazi salute.
Hours before the shooting, Dorgan telegraphed violence in terms that are now chilling to read. Dorgan appeared to become agitated after actor Kevin Sorbo wrote on X that "Tim McBride is a man. Community note this if I'm wrong," alongside a photo of the Delaware Democrat.
Dorgan's response, posted under the handle @Tgirlcuda:
Keep bashing us. But do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.
In another post, Dorgan responded to Infowars host Alex Jones, who had written "So creepy" in response to Sorbo's post. Dorgan wrote that Jones should not "wonder why trans ppl go fkn BERSERK."
The posts came one day before Dorgan opened fire inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena during a hockey game in what police described as a "family dispute."
The next afternoon, he did exactly what he promised.
Surveillance footage showed Dorgan entering and leaving the arena once before returning and opening fire. Police said there was not a known confrontation between the suspect and the family. "It doesn't appear that there was any conversation or confrontation between the family before the incident happened," said Chief Goncalves.
No argument. No warning. Just execution.
Michael Black, 58, a spectator from North Smithfield, saw what was happening. "All I saw was this person had a gun pointed at the people in the second row," Black said. "I didn't even look at my wife. I said, 'Run, run.'"
Black lunged for the weapon, and his left hand got caught on the slide, preventing it from firing. He ended up on top of the shooter. Other bystanders jumped on top of the shooter too. "He was trying to press the trigger, and the gun wasn't working because my hand was in the way," Black said.
Dorgan fell back onto Black, reached into a jacket and pulled out another gun. "He had this scared look on his face," Black recalled. "He just pulled it out of his pocket and put it in his mouth and shot himself."
Goncalves said the intervention of bystanders most likely saved lives. That is not an overstatement. Dorgan came with two legally purchased handguns, a Glock 10mm and a SIG Sauer P226, and no apparent intent to stop killing until someone stopped him.
The shooter told police in 2020 he'd recently undergone gender reassignment surgery, which became a family issue. Court filings show Dorgan's then-wife initially cited "gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits" in divorce paperwork before later changing the grounds to irreconcilable differences. The divorce was finalized in 2021.
In 2020, Dorgan reported to North Providence police that he had undergone gender reassignment surgery and said his father-in-law wanted him out of the family home because of it. According to court documents, Dorgan told police his father-in-law "told me 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."
Dorgan's daughter, Amanda, told NBC 10 that her father struggled with mental health his entire adulthood. "He was ostracized from the family because he had a long history of violence and abuse," she said. "Anyone who knows him is probably not incredibly surprised, unfortunately, but when somebody doesn't want to get help, they won't."
Note the daughter's framing. Not shock at an unimaginable act. The grim familiarity of someone who saw it building for years.
Robert Dorgan presents a profile that will give every institutional narrative-builder a headache. He was transgender. He had Nazi tattoos. He posted pro-Hitler content and used racial slurs. He also raged against those who "bash" transgender people, warning them not to wonder why people like him "go BERSERK."
The left would like this to be a story about guns. The right would like this to be a story about gender ideology and mental illness. The reality is uglier and less convenient for everyone: this was a deeply disturbed individual who left a trail of warning signs across court documents, police reports, social media, and his own family's testimony. Nobody acted on any of it in time.
Goncalves said Dorgan purchased the guns used in the attack legally. The gunman had a license to carry in Florida and officials are working to see if he could legally possess guns anywhere else. So the system processed this man as fit to carry firearms while his own daughter was publicly calling him "very sick" and telling reporters to trust their gut if they think a loved one is dangerous.
That is the question worth asking. Not whether this killer's identity fits your preferred political framework, but why a person this visibly troubled, this openly hateful, this estranged from his entire family, still walked into a youth hockey game legally armed.
Aidan Dorgan graduated from Merrimack College in 2025 with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and was pursuing a master's. A family friend, Ethan Kasht, remembered him as a "great kid" who "always laughed, always made jokes," and called it a "good family, especially the mom."
Aidan Dorgan died at the hospital. Rhonda Dorgan succumbed to her injuries at the arena. Her parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso remain hospitalized in critical condition.
A nurse at a hospital asked Michael Black how he was doing, and her eyes welled with tears. His eyes welled, too. "It was just a moment that helped," he said. "I was human again."
A mother and her son are dead. A young hockey player watched his family get shot from the ice. Three more people fight for their lives in hospital beds. The killer left every possible warning, in ink and in words, and still walked through the door.
Senior night ended before the third period.
