The family of Robert Dorgan has spoken out, expressing the “deep pain and loss” they are enduring after the transgender father carried out a tragic shooting at a Rhode Island high school hockey event, resulting in the deaths of his adult son and former wife.
In a statement delivered by their lawyer, Joseph Signore, and reported by NBC Boston, the family conveyed their distress: “The recent events at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena have profoundly affected us all.”
The Dorgan family emphasized that “behind every headline lies a family grappling with deep heartache and loss. Our sympathies extend to all families touched by this tragedy, and we hold them in our thoughts,” the statement continued.
They acknowledged the many questions arising from the incident, stating, “Our focus remains on those injured and whose lives have been irreversibly changed.”
In a horrific attack at the Pawtucket ice hockey rink, where his son was participating in a high school tournament, Robert Dorgan—also known as Roberta Esposito and identifying as female—targeted his family.
Equipped with a Glock 10mm and a SIG Sauer P226, the 56-year-old Dorgan fatally shot his 23-year-old son, Aidan, and his 52-year-old ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, who were seated in the stands.
Harrowing footage captured the moment Dorgan began shooting, sending families who had come to celebrate senior night running for their lives.
He also shot and wounded Rhonda’s parents, Linda Dorgan and Gerald Dorgan, and Thomas Geruso, a family friend, who all remain at Rhode Island hospital in critical condition.
“I just want to make sure people understand this was one person’s vendetta against their family,” Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, Dorgan’s daughter from another relationship, told WPRI Tuesday. “We were targeted. This was very specific. It wasn’t random.”
The carnage ended before it could get any worse, thanks to a good Samaritan who stopped Dorgan in his tracks.
The unwell dad then turned the gun on himself.
“Until that good Samaritan incapacitated him, I really feared that my sons were next,” she said. “I can’t thank him enough. I’m certain my sons and I are alive because of him.”
Police described the incident as a tragic “family dispute.”
Dorgan reportedly underwent gender reassignment surgery in 2020, according to court filings, and his trans identity and unhinged personality were a source of multiple family court battles leading up to the shooting.
Dorgan’s ex-wife later amended the reasoning for their split, which was finalized in 2021, blaming it on “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”
