A shooter unleashed a flurry of bullets during a Rhode Island youth hockey game, killing two people and injuring three others, in an attack that was cut short when a spectator stepped in to help stop the tragedy, authorities said.

Investigators had spoken to nearly 100 witnesses as of Monday evening as they attempt to piece together what happened earlier that afternoon inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, a few miles outside Providence.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said Monday that the shooter died from an apparent self-inflicted gun wound, though authorities are still investigating.

Goncalves credited an unnamed “good Samaritan” who intervened, bringing the attack “to a swift end.” She did not provide details.

It is not entirely clear what precipitated the shooting, who was targeted or why.

The game was livestreamed by LiveBarn, a streaming platform for youth sporting events, whose videos have been shared on social media showing players on the ice as popping sounds are heard. Chaos quickly unfolds as players on benches dive for cover, those on the ice frantically skate toward exits and fans flee their seats.

2:46
Video captures chaos inside Rhode Island ice rink during shooting that killed 2

LiveBarn’s social media account has been issuing warnings to those who shared the video that they do not have permission to do so. An email to LiveBarn seeking comment was sent Tuesday.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

“It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute,” Goncalves said. Authorities said both people who died were adults but have not released the identities of the victims.

Goncalves identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, who she said also went by the name Roberta Esposito, who was born in 1969.

Dorgan was an active employee at General Dynamics Bath Iron Works, a ship building in Bath, Maine, that contracts with the U.S. Navy, David Hench, a spokesperson for the shipyard, said Tuesday. Hench did not immediately respond to questions about Dorgan’s job title or how long Dorgan worked at the shipyard.

Monday’s shooting came nearly two months after Rhode Island was rocked by a shooting at Brown University that left two students dead and wounded nine others, as well as a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor. Authorities later found Claudio Neves Valente, 48, dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound at a New Hampshire storage facility.

“Our state is grieving again,” Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee said in a statement. “As governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students, and everyone impacted by the devastating shooting at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket.”

Associated Press writer Patrick Whittle contributed to this report from Portland, Maine.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press

The community of Tumbler Ridge continues to mourn after a mass shooting took the lives of eight people and injured more than two dozen others on Tuesday.

Premier David Eby arrived at the northern B.C. town, where a vigil attended by community members and several officials was held on Wednesday night.

“I can tell you that this is an incredibly strong community,” Eby told reporters. “It’s also a community that’s clearly in shock. The full extent of what has happened has not sunk in.”

Fighting back emotions, Eby recalled that at the vigil people were asked to have a moment of silence and pray for the families who have lost loved ones, as well as for a girl who is in hospital fighting for her life after the shooting.

“That moment for me is representative of the profound tragedy,” he said.

“A beautiful child who went to school, is full of joy and love, who’s clinging to life in a hospital right now and the other children who have died. For the parents, for the families, for the people of Tumbler Ridge … we’ll pray for you in whatever way we pray and know that that’s happening across Canada and around the world.”

2:30
‘It doesn’t feel real’: Tumbler Ridge in shock after 8 murdered in mass school shooting

On Tuesday afternoon, a shooter opened fire at Tumbler Ridge Secondary School, killing a female teacher and five students — three girls aged 12 and two boys aged 12 and 13.

Get breaking National news

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.

Alongside the six victims from the school, two others were shot and killed at a separate location before the school shooting — the shooter’s 39-year-old mother and 11-year-old brother or stepbrother.

The shooter, identified by RCMP as 18-year-old female Jesse Van Rootselaar, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The RCMP said they believe the shooter acted alone.

The shooting left two other people with serious or life-threatening injuries. They were airlifted to hospital. Approximately 25 others were assessed and triaged at the local medical centre for non‑life‑threatening injuries.

Gary Anandasangaree, Canada’s federal public safety minister, said he is heartbroken with the community of Tumble Ridge.

“As we mourn the senseless death of so many young people, what we can do here as a federal government is to support the local community, to support the mayor, to support the families, to support the first responders, to support the teachers and to ensure that we’re with them every step of the way,” Anandasangaree said. “As families are unable to put their kids to sleep tonight, there’s no words that I can say that will bring their children back.”

Mayor Darryl Krakowka thanked the premier and ministers for coming to Tumbler Ridge as “boots on the ground” to connect with the community and provide mental health supports and counsellors for families, students and staff who are grieving.

“It is so important when we see a tragedy like this, with young lives lost, families don’t have their children coming home last night. I think it was really, really important to see that, and I thank the government,” Krakowka said with emotion as Eby placed a hand on his back.

“Our community … we’re one big family,” Krakowka said.

— With files from Global News’ Amy Judd

2:58
What we know about the Tumbler Ridge shooting victims, suspect

&copy 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.

Mass shootings in Canada — including an April 2020 rampage in Nova Scotia — have spurred changes to gun laws in recent decades.

Few details were available Wednesday on the type of firearm used in Tuesday’s mass shootings in Tumbler Ridge, B.C., which left nine people dead, including the suspect, and many others injured.

RCMP Deputy Commissioner Dwayne McDonald said two firearms — a long gun and a modified handgun — were recovered by responding officers.

“Determining the origin of these firearms and what role they played in the shootings remains a significant part of the active and ongoing investigation,” McDonald told reporters in Surrey, B.C.

2:14
Tumbler Ridge shooting: 5 teens, teacher dead as RCMP identify shooter

Since May 2020, the federal Liberals have outlawed about 2,500 types of firearms, including the AR-15 and Ruger Mini-14, on the basis they belong only on the battlefield.

Prohibited firearms and devices must be disposed of — or deactivated — by the end of an amnesty period on Oct. 30.

Get daily National news

Get the day’s top news, political, economic, and current affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox once a day.

Firearms rights advocates and the federal Conservatives have accused the government of targeting law-abiding gun owners and have denounced the program as a poor use of taxpayer dollars.

2:04
Liberal gun buyback plan criticized after pilot program collects 25 firearms

Previous Video

Next Video

Gun-control advocates have applauded the compensation program while criticizing the government for not banning new sales of the semi-automatic SKS rifle.

The SKS is commonly used in Indigenous communities to hunt for food. It also has been used in police killings and other high-profile shootings in recent years.

The government is carrying out a broad review of Canada’s firearms classification regime that will include consultations with Indigenous communities on the SKS.

The Liberals also have taken steps to restrict handguns, increase penalties for firearms trafficking, keep firearms out of the hands of domestic abusers and curb homemade ghost guns.

In 1989, a gunman armed with a Ruger Mini-14 and a hunting knife murdered 14 women at Montreal’s École Polytechnique.

In the early 1990s, federal legislation toughened penalties for gun-related crimes and ushered in new measures on acquiring and storing firearms.

The Liberal government of Jean Chrétien created a universal registry for firearms, including ordinary rifles and shotguns, in the mid-1990s.

2:24
Gun control: Canada adding 179 types of firearms to prohibited weapon list

The registry was lambasted by critics as a needless intrusion into the lives of farmers, hunters and sport shooters, and touted by others as a worthy tool for police who used it to glean crucial information.

Stephen Harper’s Conservatives introduced legislation to scrap universal registration, ending the requirement to register non-restricted firearms.

&copy 2026 The Canadian Press