Details about Rhonda Dorgan’s ex-wife have emerged. Robert DorganThe father who shot Pawtucket, rhode island High School Hockey Championship. Dorgan’s fatal rampage at Dennis M Lynch Arena pawtucketDuring a youth hockey game a few miles outside of Providence.
According to authorities, Dogan killed two people and wounded three others before allegedly shooting himself in the head during a suspected “domestic dispute.” Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said at a news conference Monday evening that the 56-year-old man went by the alias Roberta Esposito, the New York Post reported.
Dorgan’s ex-wife Rhonda is believed to be one of those killed in the shooting, according to British news reports. However, authorities have not yet revealed the identity of the victim.
Who is Rhonda Dogan?
In 2000, Dogan’s then-wife, Rhonda, filed for divorce, WPRI Providence reported. By then, Dogan had undergone gender reassignment surgery.
Rhonda originally wrote among the grounds for divorce, “gender reassignment surgery, narcissism + personality disorder traits.” However, those grounds were later crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences that resulted in the immediate breakdown of the marriage.”
Learn more | Photos of Robert Dorgan surface, reports say Pawtucket shooter was wearing ‘women’s clothing’
The divorce was finalized in June 2021, according to court records. Divorce documents show Dogan was living in Jacksonville, Florida and working as a truck driver.
On the day of the shooting, Dogan appeared to mention his ex-wife in a social media comment on a post by Rep. Thomas Massie. Massie wrote in an article on February 15, 2026, XComments About a mug that said “Sassy with Massie” that someone gave him, “I love mine, I have two of them you gave us. Rhonda loves it too.”
Massie was referring to his late wife, Rhonda Massie, who died in 2024. In response to Massie’s post, Dogan wrote“I also have a beloved Rhonda, my friend.”
Dorgan made his comments on February 16, 2026, the same day he carried out the shooting in Rhode Island.
family dispute
Dogan had a history of family disputes. Around the same time as his divorce, he went to the North Providence Police Department and reported that his father-in-law wanted him to leave their North Providence home because of his gender reassignment surgery.
According to court documents, Dogan told police that his father-in-law threatened “that he would be murdered by an Asian street gang if he did not move out of the residence.”
The father-in-law was charged with intimidating witnesses and crime victims and obstructing the justice system, but the charges were later dismissed.
Learn more | Robert Dorgan Family Dispute: Pawtucket shooter’s father-in-law threatens to ‘murder’ him; mom charged with assault
In 2020, Dogan also accused his mother of assaulting him and acting in a “violent, threatening or disruptive manner,” police records show. The mother was charged with simple assault, battery and disorderly conduct, but that case was also dismissed.
Dogan has been identified as the father of a North Providence High School senior. The student was participating in a hockey tournament, local television station WPRI reported.
Multiple sources told WPRI that the mother and siblings of Dogan’s children were killed. The mother died inside Lynch Arena, while the siblings died in hospital. Three victims remain in critical condition.
