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Rhode Island shooting at hockey game leaves two dead
At least two people are dead after a shooting at a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
Police have identified the suspect accused of killing two people and critically injuring three others in a Feb. 16 shooting at an ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
At the time of the shooting, a boys hockey game was being played. A video acquired by the Providence Journal, part of the USA TODAY Network, from a service that offers live-streaming of sports events shows what appears to be a burst of roughly 13 shots in 6 seconds, and then one final shot, 11 seconds later, coming from an area off camera. It takes several shots before spectators and student athletes alike react, ducking down and seeking shelter before fleeing toward the exits.
Police have not identified any of the victims, but said that the shooting was “targeted” and appeared to be a family dispute.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the shooting that broke out during a high school hockey game at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena was targeted and appeared to be a family dispute. Goncalves identified the shooter as Robert Dorgan, 56, who also went by the name Roberta Esposito.
Goncalves repeatedly declined to give more information about the suspect, who died at the arena from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, or those targeted in the shooting, citing the privacy of the victims and the scope of the investigation.
Public records indicate that the shooter moved to Jacksonville, Florida in 2020. Court records show that the shooter’s wife filed for divorce that same year, citing irreconcilable differences.
Under grounds for divorce, Rhonda Dorgan wrote “Gender reassignment surgery, Narcissistic + personality disorder traits” and then crossed that out and wrote “irreconcilable differences which caused the irremediable breakdown of the marriage.”
The Dorgans were married in Rehoboth, Massachusetts in 1992 and their divorce was finalized in 2021, according to court records.
Court records indicate that the shooter was living in Maine as of 2022.
This story has been updated to add new information.
Contributing: Eryn Dion, Mark Reynolds and Paul Edward Parker, Providence Journal
WARWICK, R.I. (WPRI) — Two people are dead and another person seriously hurt after a crash involving two vehicles on the highway in Warwick Saturday.
Rhode Island State Police said the crash happened around 1:34 p.m. on the ramp from Route 113 West to I-95 South.
According to police, a Hyundai SUV that was driving in the middle lane of the highway started to drift to the right, crossed the first lane, and then crossed onto the on-ramp lane. The car struck the guardrail twice before driving through the grass median.
The Hyundai then struck the driver’s side of a Mercedes SUV that was on the ramp, causing the Mercedes to roll over and come to a rest. The impact sent the Hyundai over the guardrail and down an embankment.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 73-year-old man, and his passenger, a 69-year-old woman, were both pronounced dead at the hospital.
A woman who was in the Mercedes was rushed to Rhode Island Hospital in critical condition.
State police said all lanes of traffic were reopened by 4:30 p.m.
The investigation remains ongoing.
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A federal judge on Friday tossed the Department of Justice’s (DOJ) lawsuit aiming to force Rhode Island to hand over its voter information as part of the Trump administration’s push to acquire voter data from several states.
Rhode Island U.S. District Court Judge Mary McElroy wrote that federal law does not allow the DOJ “to conduct the kind of fishing expedition it seeks here,” siding with Rhode Island election officials. She added that the DOJ did not provide evidence to suggest that Rhode Island violated election law.
McElroy, a Trump appointee, wrote that she sided with the similar decision in Oregon. That decision ruled that the DOJ was not entitled to unredacted voter registration lists.
“Absent from the demand are any factual allegations suggesting that Rhode Island may be violating the list maintenance requirements,” she said in her ruling.
Rhode Island Secretary of State Gregg Amore (D) praised McElroy’s decision. He said in a statement that the Trump administration “seems to have no problem taking actions that are clear Constitutional overreaches, regularly meddling in responsibilities that are the rights of the states.”
“Today’s decision affirms our position: the United States Department of Justice has no legal right to – or need for – the personally-identifiable information in our voter file,” he said. “Voter list maintenance is a responsibility entrusted to the states, and I remain confident in the steps we take here in Rhode Island to keep our list as accurate as possible.”
The Hill reached out to the DOJ for comment.
The DOJ called for the voter lists as it investigated Rhode Island’s compliance with the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which allowed Americans to register to vote when they apply for a driver’s license.
The DOJ sued at least 30 states, as well as Washington, D.C., in December demanding their respective voter data. This data includes birth dates, names and partial Social Security numbers.
At least 12 states have given or said they will give the DOJ their voter registration lists, according to a tracker operated by the Brennan Center for Justice.
The department stated after it lost a similar suit against Massachusetts earlier this month that it had “sweeping powers” to access the voter data and that, if states fail to comply, courts have a “limited, albeit vital, role” in directing election officers on behalf of the administration to produce the records. The DOJ cited the Civil Rights Act as being intended to unearth alleged election law violations.
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