rhode island shooting: Shooter’s son serving time for church arson as family ties emerge
Authorities have linked the suspect in the Feb. 16, 2026, Pawtucket ice rink shooting to a son currently serving a federal sentence for setting fires at a predominantly Black church. The revelation adds a disturbing thread to an attack that left two family members dead, several others critically wounded and prompted bystanders to rush into action to stop the gunman.
New detail on suspect’s family connection
North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero said investigators with his department and the state Attorney General’s office confirmed that 37-year-old Kevin Colantonio — who is serving more than six years in federal prison for setting fires at Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries — is a son of the suspected shooter, 56-year-old Robert Dorgan. Dorgan is accused of opening fire inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket on Monday, Feb. 16, 2026 (ET).
Officials say Colantonio pleaded guilty in February to setting fires along the exterior of the church in February 2024 and was later sentenced to over six years in prison. Materials seized after his arrest included a notebook with explicit racist language and writings that prosecutors characterized as evidence of an extremely racist ideology. That notebook reportedly contained instructions to "hunt them down, gun them down, everyone that isn't white" and to "burn churches to the ground. "
Chief Ruggiero noted that Colantonio and Dorgan shared an address in North Providence more than two decades ago, though investigators have not established how much contact the two maintained in recent years. Dorgan’s extended family has said he had six children.
The shooting: who was targeted and how it unfolded
Pawtucket police say Dorgan entered the arena while family members watched a high school hockey game and fatally shot his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and their son, Aidan Dorgan, who later died at a hospital. Three other people were critically injured: Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and a family friend, Thomas Geruso. A 17-year-old family member was playing in the game at the time.
Video from inside the arena captured players diving for cover and fans fleeing as multiple shots rang out. Bystanders tackled the shooter after the first handgun was fired; he then used a second handgun and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at the scene. Witnesses credited a good Samaritan whose intervention likely prevented further deaths.
Family members described the attack as targeted. One daughter, who was in the stands with her two young sons, said the violence felt like a "vendetta" against the family and praised the intervention that she believes saved her children's lives.
Context: ideology, identity and motive still under review
Investigators are examining multiple threads as they try to determine motive. Dorgan posted on social media under the name Roberta Esposito and had written about being transgender and having undergone sex reassignment surgery in 2017. He also posted racist material on social platforms, a fact that investigators and prosecutors have noted while exploring potential motives.
Separately, prosecutors detailed the extremist and racist content found in Colantonio’s possessions during the arson case. Those findings, combined with Dorgan’s own social-media activity, have raised questions about whether racist ideology factored into either crime or reflected shared beliefs within parts of the extended family. Authorities have not publicly identified a single definitive motive and continue to investigate both the shooter’s background and the newly confirmed familial link to a convicted arsonist.
Community leaders and family members have been left grappling with the scale and intimacy of the violence. Local officials say the investigation remains active and that they will release further details as they become available while support and counseling services are being offered to those affected.
