Transgender Rhode Island Mass Shooter Warned of Going ‘Berserk’ Before Opening Fire

A biological male who identified as a woman warned that he could “go berserk” hours before killing two family members and injuring three other people at a Rhode Island hockey game Monday afternoon.Pawtucket police say that Robert Dorgan — who also went by the name “Roberta Esposito” — opened fire at the rink while his son was playing a high school hockey game. The suspect’s ex-wife and one of their children were killed. Police say Dorgan also shot himself.A day before the shooting, Dorgan replied to an X post by conservative actor Kevin Sorbo, who posted a photo of Delaware Congressional representative Sarah McBride with the caption, “Tim McBride is a man. Community note this if I’m wrong.”Dorgan, using the name Roberta Dorgano, replied, “keep bashing us. but do not wonder why we Go BERSERK.”In another reply to an Alex Jones comment on the photo, Dorgan replied, “stfu Alex dont be so butt hurtt over somebody different. then wonder why trans ppl go fkn BERSERK.”Monday’s shooting was livestreamed and more than a dozen shots rang out before players and spectators scrambled to flee the building. The surviving shooting victims were two other family members and a family friend, authorities said. They remain hospitalized on Tuesday.Dorgan had a history of family disputes around gender identity, according to court records seen by WPRI-TV. In early 2020, Dorgan told North Providence police about a recent gender-reassignment surgery and said his father-in-law wanted to kick him out of the house because of it. The father-in-law allegedly used a derogatory term for transgenders to say no such person was “going to stay in my house.” Prosecutors later dismissed the charges.The TV station reported that around the same time, Dorgan’s then-wife Rhonda Dorgan filed for divorce citing “gender reassignment surgery, narcissistic + personality disorder traits.” Those reasons were later crossed out and replaced with “irreconcilable differences which have caused the immediate breakdown of the marriage.” The divorce was finalized the following year.Dorgan later filed another assault complaint against his mother that was also dropped.A woman identifying herself as the shooter’s daughter told reporters outside a police station on Monday, “He shot my family and he’s dead now” and added that the shooter had “mental health issues” and was “very sick.”The shooting is the latest mass shootings involving transgender suspects.A biological male opened fire in a remote Canadian school last week. Police identified the shooter as 18-year-old high school dropout Jesse Van Rootselaar — a biological male who identified as a female. Police said that Van Rootselaar started to transition about six years ago.Van Rootselaar’s mother and an 11-year-old step brother were killed at home before the school shooting that left five students and an educator dead. Van Rootselaar was also found dead in the school of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot.In September, a shooter who was born male but identified as female opened fire in a Minneapolis church, killing two children and injuring at least 17 others. Westman then died by suicide in a parking lot behind the church.Conservative journalist Andy Ngo has documented the recent violence involving transgender shooters. In an X post after the Canada shooting, Mr. Ngo said, “There’s a trans mass killer every few months now.” He reposted it on Monday and added, “Every few days, actually.”Trans-rights groups, however, push back on claims that there is escalating violence committed by transgender shooters. “Accusing people from a small and vulnerable community of mass shooting crimes is an effort to further dehumanize, demonize, and promote fear about transgender and nonbinary people,” the non-profit GLAAD says.

Transgender Rhode Island Mass Shooter Warned of Going ‘Berserk’ Before Opening Fire

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