(Pawtucket) A shooting at a hockey game in Rhode Island left three people dead, including the shooter, and three other people were hospitalized Monday evening in critical condition, authorities said.
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Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves told reporters that someone helped quickly end the violent scene Monday afternoon by intervening and trying to subdue the shooter, who was in the room watching a family member’s hockey game.
The shooter died from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound, she said, adding that authorities were continuing their investigation.
“It appears to be a targeted event, perhaps linked to a family dispute,” she added.
Mme Goncalves identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who she said was also known as Roberta Esposito and was born in 1969.
The police chief did not provide details on the suspect or the ages of those killed, but she said the two victims appeared to be adults.
She noted that investigators are trying to piece together the facts and talk to witnesses about the shooting that happened inside Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles from Providence.
They were also reviewing videos taken during the hockey game. Unverified footage circulating on social media showed players throwing themselves to the ground for cover and fans fleeing their seats after hearing bangs.
Outside the rink, families could be seen in tears and young hockey players still in uniform boarding a bus to leave the premises. Roads around the rink were closed, a heavy police presence was maintained and helicopters were hovering over the area.
Monday’s shooting comes nearly two months after Rhode Island was rocked by another gun violence tragedy at Brown University, where a shooter killed two students and injured nine others. This shooter then shot and killed a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Authorities later found Claudio Neves Valente, 48, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire warehouse.
“Thankfully the two incidents are not related, but it is still very tragic,” said Don Grebien, Mayor of Pawtucket. They are young people. They were participating in an event, they were playing in front of their families, they were having fun, and this is what happened. »
Pawtucket is nestled just north of Providence on the Massachusetts state line. This city of nearly 80,000 inhabitants was until recently known for housing the headquarters of Hasbro.
