Pawtucket shooter's gender identity tied to past family disputes, court records show

Robert Dorgan, 56, who also used the name Roberta, carried out a shooting at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on February 16, 2026, during a high school hockey game. Authorities say he killed two family members, wounded three others, and then took his own life.

Police described the incident as stemming from a family dispute.

Court records reveal a pattern of family tensions linked to Dorgan’s gender identity in the years leading up to the event. In early 2020, he told North Providence police he had completed gender-reassignment surgery and that his father-in-law demanded he leave their shared residence because of it. Dorgan reported the father-in-law threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang” if he refused to move out and used a "derogatory term for transgender people," declaring no such person was “going to stay in my house.” Charges of intimidation and obstruction against the father-in-law were filed but later dropped. At the same time, Dorgan’s wife filed for divorce. The initial filing listed “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits” as grounds; these were crossed out and substituted with “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”

The divorce was finalized in June 2021. Records from that period list Dorgan’s address in Jacksonville, Florida, where he worked as a truck driver.Also in 2020, Dorgan accused his mother of assault, describing her behavior as “violent, threatening or tumultuous.” She faced charges of simple assault, battery, and disorderly conduct, the case was later dismissed.

Dorgan claimed his father-in-law pressured him to drop those charges.