‘She always spoke highly of her kid’: Friend of Rhode Island ice rink shooter speaks out on mass shooting
A woman who knew the Rhode Island ice rink shooter as a calm, loving parent says she is still struggling to come to terms with the deadly violence that unfolded during a hockey game earlier this week.
“To see the events of this tragedy was just shocking because she had such a calm demeanor,” a friend of Robert Dorgan, named only as Kimberly by local outlet WCVB, said. Kimberly only knew Dorgan as “Roberta.”
Dorgan, 56, who also went by Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgan, walked into the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket during a youth hockey game on Monday and opened fire, killing his ex-wife and their son and wounding three others before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
While investigators have not released a motive, Kimberly told WCVB that nothing in her interactions with Dorgan suggested a capacity for violence.
“I cannot in any situation understand how she can go and take the life of her child, especially because she spoke so highly of them,” Kimberly said. “It breaks my heart, I’m disgusted, I’m mad, I’m disappointed.”
Kimberly first came into contact with Dorgan at a biker meetup after they moved to Florida following a divorce and gender-affirming surgery.
“She always put her children on a pedestal,” she told the broadcaster. After spending three years in Florida, Dorgan moved to Maine in 2023 to be closer to family but was frustrated about limited contact with the children, Kimberly added.
“We had a conversation not long after she moved up there, and it was repeated, where she said, you know, ‘I moved all the way up here, and I don’t see my kids as much as I want,’” Kimberly recalled.
“Well, kids, a lot of teenagers don’t want to be around their parents anyway… if I’m being honest, it’s sometimes probably hard when you have the dad, that’s now a mom, and sometimes her wardrobe was sometimes more flamboyant than her personality.”
Authorities say the shooter targeted family members, killing ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan, and wounding Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, along with a family friend, Thomas Geruso.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said there was “no indication” of impending violence and noted Dorgan had attended hockey games before without incident.
Court filings show gender identity was initially cited as a factor in the couple’s 2020 divorce, though the final filing listed “irreconcilable differences.” The documents also show the pair shared the same last name even before marriage, a detail authorities have not further explained.
Under the name Roberta Dorgano, Dorgan posted frequently on social media about marital troubles and transgender identity. In 2018, Dorgan wrote that Rhonda “hates the person who stole her husband.” A year later, Dorgan posted: “Transwoman, 6 kids : wife – not thrilled,” and encouraged others not to let being transgender stop them from creating a family.
A day before the shooting, Dorgan responded on X to posts by actor Kevin Sorbo and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, writing that constant criticism of transgender people is “why we Go BERSERK.”
Goncalves credited several “good Samaritans” with intervening during the attack. At least three bystanders tackled Dorgan in the stands as the crowd fled. Dorgan was still able to reach for a second firearm and fatally shoot himself, police said.
A vigil was held Tuesday night at Slatersville Congregational Church in North Smithfield.
“It’s absolutely mind-boggling that this could happen to people we know and love and support through everything,” said Amy Goulet, whose son plays hockey in the community.
Dorgan worked at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a Navy shipbuilding facility in Bath, Maine. Co-workers said Dorgan often used the name Roberta at work.
A colleague, Destiny Mackenzie, said Dorgan frequently talked about family and a hockey-playing son. Mackenzie also said Dorgan had a bad temper and sometimes got into screaming matches with co-workers.
The Associated Press reported that, according to military records, Dorgan briefly served in the Marine Corps in 1988 and was separated less than three months later at the lowest rank.
