Tragic Shooting at Rhode Island Youth Hockey Game Claims Three Lives
PAWTUCKET, R.I. — A tragic event unfolded during a youth hockey game in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, as three individuals, including the shooter, were killed, according to local authorities.
Police Chief Tina Goncalves reported that three other individuals sustained critical injuries and were taken to the hospital. The shooter appears to have died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and police were not involved in the suspect’s death.
Chief Goncalves indicated that the incident seemed to be a targeted attack, potentially stemming from a family dispute. While specific details about the suspect and the victims’ ages were not disclosed, it was noted that the victims were likely adults.
Investigators are currently working to reconstruct the events and are speaking with witnesses present during the shooting at Dennis M. Lynch Arena, located just a few miles from Providence. Video footage from the hockey game is being reviewed, and unverified clips on social media show players and spectators reacting to gunfire.
Outside the arena, emotional scenes unfolded as families and high school hockey players, still in their uniforms, embraced one another before leaving the area. Authorities maintained a significant presence around the arena, with roads closed and helicopters surveying the scene.
This tragic event follows another shooting incident in Rhode Island nearly two months ago at Brown University, where a gunman killed two students and injured nine others. That shooter also later killed a Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor before taking his own life in New Hampshire.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien expressed the community’s grief, stating, “The fortunate thing is that the two incidents are not related, but it is very tragic. These are high school kids. They were doing an event, they were playing with their families watching, a fun time, and it turned into this.”
Pawtucket, a city of nearly 80,000 residents, is situated just north of Providence and adjacent to the Massachusetts border, previously known for hosting the headquarters of Hasbro.
