Staff Reports
The people of Pawtucket woke up to a nightmare on February 16, 2026, when a shooter opened fire during a high school hockey game at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena, killing multiple people and leaving others critically wounded. Families who came to cheer on their kids were met with chaos and grief instead of celebration, and a community that prides itself on hard work and decency is left stunned and mourning.
Authorities have identified the gunman as 56-year-old Robert Dorgan, and early indications from investigators point to a targeted family dispute that turned into a murderous rampage and ended with the suspect apparently taking his own life. That cold, brutal description — a familicide in a public place where children and parents gathered — should make every American pause and demand answers about how we failed these victims.
Videos and eyewitness accounts show the pandemonium inside the rink as players and parents scrambled for safety while a livestream captured the terrifying sequence of shots and screams. Young athletes barricaded themselves in locker rooms, parents ran toward the exits, and first responders rushed in to help those bleeding on the stands — scenes no one should have to relive. The raw footage and immediate responses underscore how exposed our communities can be in a moment.
We should be grateful to the bystander who stepped in and helped end the attack, and to the police and medical teams who arrived within minutes to stabilize the wounded and secure the scene. Civic courage like that matters; ordinary Americans often make the difference when danger strikes, and their bravery deserves our praise, not politicized second-guessing. The quick actions prevented what could have been an even worse massacre.
This horrific event also forces hard questions about mental health, family breakdown, and warning signs left unaddressed. Reporting notes the shooter had a troubled past and documented disputes — a pattern we see again and again that points to systemic failures in protecting families and treating severe behavioral illness before it escalates into violence. Washington’s reflex to turn every tragedy into a campaign for broad gun bans overlooks the deeper rot: fractured families, untreated mental illness, and the erosion of local accountability and community care.
As a nation, our first duty is to the victims and their families — to pray for them, to help them with practical support, and to demand the truth about what went wrong. Let this be a moment when conservatives and all decent people refuse to let political operatives exploit grief, and instead push for real solutions: stronger community mental-health interventions, better security at youth events, and a recommitment to family and faith as bulwarks against violence. Hardworking Americans will not be cowed; we will stand with Pawtucket and insist on protecting our children and neighborhoods.
