Rhode Island hockey shooting: Who was the shooter? Woman claims her father opened fire at Pawtucket ice rink in viral video

A shooting at an ice hockey arena in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, has left three people dead, including the suspect, and three others critically injured, police said. Authorities said the gunman died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound after the attack. Tina Goncalves, the Pawtucket police chief, told reporters that officers rushed to the Dennis M. Lynch Arena just before 3 PM after receiving reports of gunfire. A high school hockey game was taking place at the time, and the arena was full of students and parents.


Early information suggests the shooter may have targeted members of his own family. One of the victims who died was a young girl. The three injured victims were taken to a hospital with gunshot wounds and are listed in critical condition, according to Associated Press.



A woman, who did not reveal her identity, later told authorities that the shooter was her father. She shared this information while speaking to NewsCenter 5 as she left the Pawtucket Police Department with a man and a child.

"My father was the shooter," she said as quoted by NewsCenter 5. "He shot my family, and he's dead now," she further said.


According to NewsCenter 5, the woman said her father had struggled with mental health issues for a long time and described him as 'very sick', though she did not share further details.

As the woman walked toward a pickup truck parked across from the Pawtucket Police Department, she said she did not know who had been killed and added that she was heading to the hospital next.