Gerald “Gerry” Dorgan has died from injuries sustained when his daughter’s transgender ex-husband opened fire at a youth hockey game in Rhode Island, becoming the third fatality from the February 16 massacre at the Dennis M. Lynch arena in Pawtucket.
The 75-year-old had been in critical condition since Robert Dorgan carried out the mass shooting that also killed his daughter Rhonda Dorgan, 52, and grandson Aidan Dorgan, 23. Authorities confirmed his death on Wednesday.
Rhonda’s mother Linda Dorgan and Thomas Geruso, a family friend and assistant principal at a Pawtucket high school, remain in serious but stable condition following the shooting. Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien stated he was “heartbroken” that another person has died because of the “senseless shooting.”
A close family friend paid tribute to Gerry in a Facebook post, writing: “You were the coolest Dad I have ever known and you were one tough son of a gun. Funny and true to your wife and your daughters and their friends. We knew we could always count on you to be there for us if we needed you!”
Robert Dorgan, 56, who also went by the names Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano, opened fire on his family as they sat in the stands during his youngest son’s high school hockey match. Police stated he was specifically targeting family members, with his ex-wife also being his first cousin.
Three bystanders were credited with containing and disarming the shooter, a former bodybuilder and ex-Marine. Michael Black lunged toward Dorgan’s handgun, managing to get his left hand caught in the chamber and jamming it. Dorgan hoisted Black into the air before at least two other bystanders rushed over to subdue the shooter, with one putting him into a choke hold.
Dorgan fell to the ground with the 58-year-old Black on top of him. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot after pulling out a second gun as the two locked eyes. Black claimed he never heard Dorgan say a word.
Dorgan’s daughter Amanda Wallace-Hubbard, who witnessed the shooting alongside her two sons, stated her father had a “vendetta” against his family and was shunned by his six children. She told the New York Post: “Gender identity was not remotely a factor in him being ostracized from the family, at least on the part of myself or my siblings, it really was just a symptom of something that had been going on that was much deeper his entire adult life.”
The 36-year-old stated her late father “struggled with demons” but never got the help he needed. “He never really saw the error in his ways. I think without real substantial mental health help, I don’t think he ever would have come around to see that, but you have to admit that you have a problem before you can get help. He was just not willing to do that,” she added.
Dorgan and Rhonda married in 1992, but she filed for divorce in 2020, citing “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic and personality disorder traits.” Those reasons were later crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.” Their divorce was finalized in 2021.
The motive behind the shooting remains under investigation, though authorities have stated it was “targeted” and stemmed from a “family dispute.”
