Wife of Robert Dorgan, Rhode Island hockey game shooter, divorced him in 2020 over gender reassignment surgery, personality disorder traits; court records reveal his past

Rhode Island hockey game shooting: The suspect in the shooting incident that unfolded on Monday (February 16, 2026) at a Pawtucket ice rink in Rhode Island during a youth hockey game was identified as Robert Dorgan, according to police.

At least three people, including the suspect, were fatally shot, and three others sustained serious injuries in the shooting incident. The suspect had a history of family disputes, some involving conflict over his gender identity, CBS affiliate WPRI reported, citing court records.

Among the deceased in the shooting were two family members, the local news outlet reported. Authorities claimed that the fatal incident was linked to a family dispute. Dorgan then shot and killed himself, police said.


While speaking at a late-night news conference, Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said Dorgan also went by the name “Roberta.” Court documents claimed that his gender identity played a role in multiple family disputes over recent years, according to WPRI. Dorgan’s wife, Rhonda Dorgan, filed for divorce in 2020 over his 'gender reassignment surgery.’

Dorgan underwent gender-reassignment surgery in 2020

In 2020, Dorgan reported to the North Providence Police Department that he had recently undergone gender-reassignment surgery, WPRI reported. He said that due to the surgery, his father-in-law wanted him out of their North Providence home.

Dorgan told police that his father-in-law threatened to “have him murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence,” court documents say, according to WPRI.

Father-in-law used a derogatory term for transgender individuals: Dorgan

The Rhode Island shooting suspect stated that he had lived at the home for seven years. He told police that the father-in-law used a derogatory term for transgender individuals to say no such person was “going to stay in my house."

According to WPRI, the father-in-law was charged with intimidation of witnesses and victims of crimes and obstruction of the judicial system. Prosecutors later dismissed the charges.

Dorgan’s wife divorced him in 2020

Dorgan’s marriage also landed in trouble around that time, as his then-wife Rhonda Dorgan filed for divorce. Under grounds for divorce, Rhonda initially wrote, “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits,” as quoted by WPRI.

Those reasons were then crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences, which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.” The divorce was finalized in June 2021, court records reveal. According to the paperwork from the divorce, Dorgan lived at the time in Jacksonville, Florida, and was working as a truck driver.

Dorgan accused his mother of assaulting him

In 2020, Dorgan also accused his mother of assaulting him and acting in a “violent, threatening, or tumultuous manner,” police records claim, as quoted by WPRI. The mother was charged with simple assault and battery and disorderly conduct, and the case was also a point of contention in the dispute with his father-in-law.