A suspected transgender murderer, identified as Robert Dorgan, reportedly used a high-powered handgun to fatally shoot his son and ex-wife during a high school hockey game in Rhode Island on Monday.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves stated at a recent press briefing that Dorgan, 56, who is also known as Roberta, held a concealed carry permit in Florida. However, he did not possess one in Rhode Island.
Dorgan allegedly used a Glock 29 10mm, which he acquired in September 2021 in Jacksonville, alongside a Sig Sauer P226 in .357 Sig caliber, purchased in July 2019 in West Warwick, Rhode Island, to kill his ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan, 52, and their son Aidan, 23, at Lynch Arena around 2:30 p.m.
The 10mm round is notably more powerful—almost double that of the commonly used 9mm round found in many police and military firearms.
Dorgan also inflicted serious injuries on Rhonda’s parents, Gerald and Linda Dorgan, as well as a family friend, Thomas Geluso, before taking his own life.
When asked whether Dorgan’s Florida permit was acceptable in Rhode Island, Tim Rondeau from the attorney general’s office clarified that a Rhode Island permit is legally required, with very limited exceptions. “If someone is merely passing through the state while transporting a firearm, there’s a small exemption,” he explained.
The vice president of the Rhode Island Firearms Owners Federation, Glenn Valentine, reiterated that out-of-state permits hold no validity in Rhode Island.
Dorgan had spent several years living in Jacksonville. Florida had done away with permit requirements as of July 2023, but permits issued prior to that remained valid for seven years, according to Valentine.
Rondeau elaborated that Dorgan would have needed to apply for a license either from his town or the attorney general’s office, but it remains uncertain if he ever did.
In reaction to the incident, Rhode Island’s Republican minority has put forward a bill aimed at granting concealed carry privileges to out-of-state gun owners, alongside reciprocal rights for local gun owners, though past efforts have stalled in legislative committees.
Authorities are currently piecing together Dorgan’s background, marking him as the fourth high-profile transgender mass shooter in North America recently. Earlier this month, a transgender-identifying individual in Canada also committed multiple murders at his former school.
Dorgan experienced a tumultuous past, having been discharged from the Marine Corps just three months into service in 1988, and most recently underwent gender reassignment surgery. There was also a historic charge for simple assault and battery in 1989, but it was dismissed.
A police report revealed that Rhonda alleged her father had told her to leave the house after she had the surgery in 2020. However, Dorgan’s Nazi tattoos and extremist political views, described as “to the right of Hitler,” hint at a troubling life trajectory.
