The shooting at an American high school ice hockey match on Monday came after several turbulent years for the Dorgan family.
A difficult divorce caused by gender reassignment surgery, a series of police complaints and bizarre threats formed the backdrop to the killings in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Robert Dorgan, 56, who used the name Roberta Esposito, opened fire in the stands of his son’s match at the Dennis M Lynch Arena before taking his own life.
Police have not confirmed the victims’ identities, but federal law enforcement sources told Fox News that Dorgan’s wife Rhonda and one of his children were killed.
Two other children and a family friend were injured, local outlet WPRI reported.
Outside Pawtucket police station, a woman who identified herself as Dorgan’s daughter told reporters he was “very sick” and added: “He shot my family, and he’s dead now.”
Robert Dorgan in a Facebook picture. In 2020, he told police he had had gender reassignment surgery – Facebook
Court documents painted a picture of domestic strife and legal disputes involving Dorgan’s wife, mother, and father-in-law in the years leading up to the shooting.
In 2020, Dorgan told police he had undergone gender reassignment surgery, and selfies on his Facebook account showed him wearing make-up and female clothing.
Rhonda Dorgan cited the surgery among the reasons why she filed for divorce, as well as his “narcissistic and personality disorder traits”.
Those grounds were later replaced with “irreconcilable differences, which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage”.
The divorce was finalised in June 2021, by which point Dorgan had moved to Florida, where he was working as a truck driver, WPRI reported. He is understood to have lived at his father-in-law’s home for seven years before transitioning.
The divorce was finalised in June 2021, by which point Dorgan had moved to Florida, where he was working as a truck driver, WPRI reported
Dorgan told police that his father-in-law, who shares the same surname, threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence”, according to court records.
He also said his father-in-law used a derogatory term for transgender people and insisted that no such person was “going to stay in my house”.
In 2020, Dorgan accused his mother of assault, telling police she had acted in a “violent, threatening or tumultuous manner”, records showed.
He claimed his father-in-law had told him that “if I did not drop the assault charges against my mother that further retaliation could be expected and that was another reason to have me killed”.
The father-in-law was charged with intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes and obstruction of the judicial system, though prosecutors later dismissed the charges.
The case against Dorgan’s mother was also dismissed.
The scene outside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena after the shooting on Monday – Joseph Prezioso/AFP via Getty
Dorgan’s social media profiles paint a picture of a politically engaged, Republican-supporting conspiracy theorist. On X, he shared posts supportive of Donald Trump and critical of Democrats. Many echoed Republican talking points on immigration, federal enforcement agencies and election fraud.
He also shared material criticising the Trump administration’s handling of the Epstein files and reposted content from conspiracy theorists including Alex Jones and Nick Fuentes.
In a statement Monday night, the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence described the situation as “deeply painful”.
“While details are still emerging, we know that violence within families and intimate relationships can have devastating and far-reaching impacts,” the group said.
“Domestic violence does not stay behind closed doors. It affects children, extended family members, and entire communities.”