Who Is the Rhode Island Hockey Rink Shooting Suspect? Father Allegedly Targeted Family in Murder-Suicide at Son's Senior Night

It was supposed to be Senior Night. Instead, a Rhode Island ice rink became the scene of a family massacre.

A father opened fire on his own relatives during his child's high school hockey game in Pawtucket on Monday, killing two and critically wounding three others before taking his own life, according to authorities and sources with direct knowledge of the incident.

The attack at Dennis M. Lynch Arena has rocked a state still reeling from the Brown University shooting just two months ago.

Who Is the Suspect?

Authorities haven't released the gunman's name. But here's what we know.

The shooter was the father of a North Providence High School senior who played on the Blackstone Valley Schools cooperative hockey team, WPRI's Target 12 confirmed. He killed the student's mother at the rink. A sibling, reportedly a young girl, died later at Rhode Island Hospital. Three other family members remain in critical condition.

Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves said the shooter died from what appeared to be a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Police weren't involved in his death.

A law enforcement source told NBC 10 that investigators are looking into reports the suspect may have been dressed in women's clothing, possibly to enter undetected. That detail is still under investigation.

An ATF source told reporters that the shooting stemmed from a domestic violence incident that turned into a murder-suicide. The gunman killed his wife and shot multiple children before turning the gun on himself.

14 Gunshots on Livestream

The Senior Night game was being livestreamed. Families watching from home saw it happen in real time.

Video footage shows play on the ice interrupted by rapid gunfire. At least 14 shots ring out consecutively. Then an 11-second pause. Then what sounds like a final shot.

Players jumped from the stands onto the ice and skated for the exits. Spectators ran to a nearby Walgreens, panicking, telling employees there had been a shooting.

One parent tried to stop it. According to a sports reporter at the Pawtucket Times, a North Smithfield father grabbed a gun from the shooter's hand. But the attacker had a second weapon.

Second Mass Shooting in Two Months

Rhode Island isn't used to this. The state has one of the lowest gun death rates in the country. However, in just 65 days, two mass shootings have struck spaces where people should feel safe: a university exam room and a youth hockey arena.

The Brown University shooting on 13 December killed two students, Ella Cook and Muhammad Aziz Umurzokov, and wounded nine others. The gunman, 48-year-old Cláudio Manuel Neves Valente, later killed himself in a New Hampshire storage unit. Brown's campus sits just five miles south of Lynch Arena.

The Gun Violence Archive recorded Monday's attack as the 41st mass shooting in the US in the first 47 days of 2026.

'Our State Is Grieving Again'

Governor Dan McKee didn't hold back. 'Our state is grieving again,' McKee wrote in a statement Monday evening. 'As Governor, a parent, and a former coach, my heart breaks for the victims, families, students, and everyone impacted.'

Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien called it 'a terrible tragedy' that shattered what should have been a joyful celebration for graduating players and their families.

FBI Director Kash Patel confirmed agents from the Boston Division have joined the investigation. The Rhode Island Attorney General's office is also involved.

Schools across the co-op teams said all student-athletes were accounted for. Mental health resources will be made available this week.