Two people were killed and three injured after a shooting interrupted a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Providence County, Rhode Island.
The suspected gunman, who police say took his own life after opening fire, appeared to be targeting family members during the incident, law enforcement sources told CNN. Police said the investigation is ongoing and the suspect has been identified as Robert K. Dorgan, who Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Gonsalves said went by the name Robert Esposito.
Two teams of students from multiple schools were playing a hockey game at the arena, according to school officials. North Providence High School, where students were on one team, said the incident involved spectators and occurred around the start of the first period of the game. The school said all of its students who participated in the game were fortunately safe, but that preliminary information indicates that the parents of one of the students were involved in the incident.
The latest wave of gun violence in the United States comes just two months after the shooting at Brown University, located five miles away, where a 48-year-old man opened fire in December, killing two students and wounding nine others.
Footage from youth sports streaming service LiveBarn shows the shooting taking place behind one team's bench in the middle of a game. The footage, broadcast by WJAR, shows players from both teams running for cover as the gunman fires at least a dozen shots, with players and coaches running for the exits.
Some high school students joined the players on the ice, jumping onto the field amid the gunfire and running toward the door on the opposite side that leads to the locker room, while one person tried to disarm the gunman in the stands, according to Sen. Jack Reed. Gonsalves said the person's efforts "likely brought this tragic event to a swift end."
Three people are in critical condition at Rhode Island Hospital with gunshot wounds, the hospital said. It is the same facility that treated victims of the Brown University shooting.
Police are working to determine the sequence of events that preceded the attacker's arrival at the gym at around 2:30 p.m. on Monday.
It was the 41st mass shooting across the US in the first 47 days of this year, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
"This type of violence, especially in a place intended for families and youth, is devastating," Providence Mayor Brett Smiley wrote on the X platform.
Bonus video:
