The suspect is the daughter of the gunman who shot five people and killed two in a “family dispute.” The Rhode Island High School Hockey Tournament said his father had various “mental health issues.” The woman, who did not release her name, told NewsCenter 5 as she left the Pawtucket Police Department that “my dad was the shooter.”
Police stand outside a perimeter built around the Dennis M. Lynch Arena where a shooting occurred today, February 16, 2026, in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. (Photo by Joseph Prezioso/AFP) (AFP)”He shot my family, and he’s dead now,” she said.
“He has mental health issues,” she said, adding that his father was “very sick”.
Read more Pawtucket Lynch Arena shooting: Videos show chaos, police response to shooting at boys hockey game
The woman said she wasn’t sure who was killed or injured, but was going to the hospital to check.
What we know about the shootingThe incident occurred at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles outside of Providence, during a youth ice hockey game.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said at a news conference that the shooting was being investigated as a “family dispute.” Although he did not reveal exactly how the gunman was related to the victims, local reports claimed the gunman was a father who shot his wife and three children.
The gunman was found dead inside Lynch Arena, along with another victim. Another person died at the hospital and three others were in critical condition, police said, according to the New York Post.
A young girl may have been among those who died, according to the Pawtucket mayor’s office.
Read more ‘Shooter was in the stands’: First details released about Pawtucket ice rink shooting suspect
Amazing livestream footage has been released The moment the man fired after moving from the back of the stand to the front. About 11 shots rang out, causing players and spectators to fall to the ground. Athletes on the ice ran to the shore, seemingly trying to take cover behind the barricade, before they rushed to the locker room.
Other people stuck on the bench rushed out, some of them tearing their skates into the box. From there, some students ran to a nearby Walgreens, where employees subsequently locked down the building and called authorities.
According to an eyewitness, the father of a player Disarms the gunman. But he allegedly had another weapon and fired again.
In the arena were students from Coventry, Johnston, North Providence, and North Smithfield high schools, as well as others from St. Raphael Academy and Providence Country Day School.
