Details have emerged about his ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan Robert Dorganthe father who shot a Pawtucket, Rhode Island High school hockey tournament. Dorgan went on a rampage at Dennis M. Lynch Arena PawtucketA few miles outside of Providence during youth ice hockey games.
Who is Rhonda Dorgan? Pawtucket gunman Robert Dorgan calls ex-wife ‘sweetheart’ on social media day of shooting (Roberta Dorgano/X)According to authorities, Dorgan killed two people and wounded three others before turning the gun on himself over a suspected “family dispute.” According to the New York Post, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said at a press conference Monday night that 56-year-old Roberta Esposito, aka Roberta Esposito, used
Dorgan’s ex-wife Rhonda is believed to be among those killed in the shooting, GB News reported. However, authorities are yet to reveal the identity of the injured.
Who is Rhonda Dorgan?In 2000, Dorgan’s then-wife, Rhonda, filed for divorce, according to WPRI Providence. By then, Dorgan had undergone gender-reassignment surgery.
Rhonda first wrote under Grounds for Divorce, “Gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits.” However, these reasons were later dropped and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which led to the immediate breakdown of the marriage”.
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According to court records, the divorce was finalized in June 2021. Dorgan was living in Jacksonville, Florida at the time and working as a truck driver, according to divorce papers.
A post by Rep. Thomas Massey on the day of the Dorgan shooting appeared to mention his ex-wife in a social media comment. Massey wrote on February 15, 2026, X comment “Sassy with Macy” was written about a cup, which someone had given her, “I like mine, I have two you sent us. Rhonda liked it too.”
Massey was referring to his late wife Rhonda Massey, who died in 2024. In response to Macy’s post, Dorgan wrote”I also have a favorite RHONDA, my friend”.
Dorgan wrote the comment on February 16, 2026, the day he shot in Rhode Island.
family disputeDorgan had a history of family disputes. Around the same time as her divorce, she went to the North Providence Police Department and reported that her father-in-law wanted her out of their North Providence home because of her sex-reassignment surgery.
According to court documents, Dorgan told police that her father-in-law threatened “that she would be killed by an Asian street gang if she did not move out of the residence”.
The father-in-law was charged with witness intimidation and victimization and obstruction of justice, but the charges were later dismissed.
Read more Robert Dorgan’s family feud: Pawtucket shooter’s in-laws threaten to ‘kill him’; Accused of assaulting mother
In 2020, Dorgan also accused his mother of assaulting him and acting in a “violent, threatening or disorderly manner,” police records show. The mother was charged with simple assault and battery and disorderly conduct, but that case was also dismissed.
Dorgan has been identified as the father of a senior at North Providence High School. The student was competing in a hockey tournament, according to local station WPRI.
Dorgan’s child’s mother and siblings were among the dead, multiple sources told WPRI. While the mother died inside the Lynch Arena, the siblings died at the hospital. The condition of the three injured is critical.
