The shooting at a Rhode Island high school hockey game that left three dead and three injured may have been a “targeted event” stemming from a “family dispute”, officials have said, with local media reporting that one of the victims was the suspect’s son.
The Pawtucket police chief, Tina Goncalves, confirmed the suspect was also among the three people who died.
The shooting happened at the Dennis M Lynch Arena ice rink in Pawtucket on Monday afternoon, during a high school hockey game. The suspect, identified by police as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, probably died from a self-inflicted shot, Goncalves said.
“It appears that a lone individual, the suspect, entered the arena to watch the hockey game of a family member. And unfortunately, during that time, a shooting occurred,” Goncalves said during a news conference on Monday night. “It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute.”
Goncalves added that “the police were not involved” in killing the suspect. Local officials have not released the names of the victims and Goncalves said the investigation was ongoing.
The shooting was reportedly caught online during a live stream. NBC News verified the video, reporting that a “a series of roughly a dozen shots are heard”. The video has since been taken down.
According to Goncalves, a person at the hockey game intervened during the shooting by attempting to subdue the suspect. Goncalves credited this effort for helping the incident to end quickly.
The North Providence mayor, Charles Lombardi, told NBC 10 News that one of the victims was the son of the suspect.
One of the players interviewed by NBC in Pawtucket said he heard the gunshots as they were playing.
“I was on the ice, and I thought it was balloons at first,” Olin Lawrence told the outlet. “It was like, bop, bop. And I thought it was balloons, but it just kept going.
“Me and my teammates ran right to the locker room, and we just bunkered up and we pressed against the door and just tried to stay safe down in there. But, no, it was very scary,” Lawrence added.
The Rhode Island Interscholastic League said on Monday all games were suspended as a result of the shooting.
The state’s governor, Dan McKee, said he was devastated by the shooting, offering mental health resources to people affected.
“As a governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students and everyone impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket,” McKee said in a statement. “I am praying for Rhode Island.”
