A gunman fired a barrage of bullets at a youth hockey game in Rhode Island, killing two people and injuring three others, but the attack was interrupted when a spectator stepped in to help stop the tragedy, authorities said.
As of Monday evening, investigators had spoken to nearly 100 witnesses as they tried to piece together what happened early Monday afternoon inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles outside Providence.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said Monday that the shooter apparently suffered a self-inflicted gunshot wound, but authorities were still investigating.
Goncalves credited the intervention of an unnamed “Good Samaritan” for bringing the attack to a “quick end.” She did not provide details.
It’s not entirely clear what led to the shooting, who was targeted and why. Unconfirmed videos circulating on social media showed players on the ice hearing a popping sound. Chaos quickly unfolded, with players on the bench scrambling for cover, players on the ice sliding frantically toward the exits, and fans fleeing their seats.
“It appears this was a targeted incident, possibly a domestic dispute,” she said. Authorities said both victims were adults, but the identities of the victims have not been released.
Gonsalves identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who she said was also named Roberta Esposito and was born in 1969.
Monday’s shooting came nearly two months after a shooting at Brown University in Rhode Island that killed two students and injured nine others, as well as an MIT professor. Authorities later discovered that 48-year-old Claudio Neves Valente had committed suicide at a New Hampshire storage facility.
“Our state is once again grieving,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. “As a governor, parent and former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students and everyone affected by the devastating shooting at Lynch Stadium in Pawtucket.”