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On Monday afternoon, February 16, 2026, a quiet community night at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket turned into a scene of horror when shots rang out during a youth hockey game, leaving three dead including the shooter and three others critically injured. Families and kids who came to cheer on their teams were instead forced to run for their lives while first responders rushed to the scene — a stark reminder that no public place is truly safe when violence is allowed to fester.
Authorities have identified the shooter as 56-year-old Robert K. Dorgan, who also used the names Roberta Dorgan and Roberta Esposito; family members say he killed his ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and their adult son Aidan before dying of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Local reporting confirms this was not a random rampage but a targeted family attack carried out in front of dozens of stunned spectators.
Video of the chaos circulated almost immediately because the game was being livestreamed, and eyewitnesses say bystanders tried to stop the assailant before he grabbed a second weapon and turned the gun on himself. Police called it a “family dispute” under investigation, but no one should be comforted by bureaucratic labels when parents and teenagers were left bleeding in the stands.
Court records and reporting show a troubled personal history: Dorgan had transitioned and used female names, had divorced in 2021, and there were past family conflicts that bubbled into legal filings years earlier. Whether identity, mental illness, or longstanding family breakdowns were the central causes, the facts point to a household in deep dysfunction — and the community paid the price.
This tragedy demands more than solemn prayers; it demands accountability. Conservatives rightly champion law and order and the protection of our children, and this is exactly the kind of event that exposes failures in preventing domestic violence and in keeping firearms out of the hands of people in crisis. Talk of compassion for the suffering must be paired with policies that secure venues, strengthen background checks for those with violent histories, and ensure swift intervention when family matters show signs of escalation.
The cultural chaos of recent years has frayed families and blurred responsibilities, and while the media rushes to sanitize every motive, ordinary Americans see a painful pattern: kids and parents left vulnerable because too many institutions prioritized ideology over common-sense safety. If our schools, athletic programs, and community arenas are to be sanctuaries for children, leaders must stop pontificating and start protecting.
As grieving families try to pick up the pieces, the call from conservatives is simple and strong: tighten the nets that failed these people, fund mental-health services that actually help, and restore a sense of civic duty that protects life and community. Rhode Islanders deserve answers and action, and the rest of the nation should take this bitter lesson to heart before another preventable tragedy unfolds.
