Three people are dead, including a suspected shooter, and three more are hospitalized in critical condition after a shooting at an ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, on Monday afternoon, according to the city’s police chief.
The shooting occurred during a high school hockey game at Dennis Lynch Arena around 2:30 p.m., Police Chief Tina Goncalves said at a news conference, adding that it appeared to be a “targeted event” involving a “family dispute.”
Two of the three dead, including the suspect, were found at the scene, while the third victim succumbed to their injuries at the hospital, Goncalves said. The police chief said the suspect went by the name Roberta Esposito, and died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Goncalves added that the deceased victims appear to be adults and declined to offer more information, stressing that the investigation was in its “initial stages.”
At a news conference Monday night. Goncalves noted that a good Samaritan intervened during the violence, helping bring a “swift end to this tragic event.”
Pawtucket is about 6 miles north of the state capital of Providence, where a shooter killed two Brown University students and injured nine others in December.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien told reporters that the shootings are not related, but said the fact that two unfolded in close proximity in as many months “has to be traumatic to everybody.”
Providence Mayor Brett Smiley called the shooting “devastating” in a post on X, adding, “In Providence, we know how deeply a moment like this affects not only the victims and their loved ones, but the entire city.”
Gov. Dan McKee, D-R.I., said in a post on X that his office is “actively monitoring the shooting,” adding that state police were working with local law enforcement.
“I am praying for Pawtucket and everyone involved,” McKee added.
The Boston field division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said in a post on X that its agents were responding to the scene and urged the public to avoid the area and follow the directions issued by Pawtucket police. FBI Director Kash Patel also said on X that his agents were deploying to Pawtucket in order to “provide state and local law enforcement any and all resources necessary.”
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.