Pawtucket rink shooter’s son tried to burn down a Black church in 2024

NORTH PROVIDENCE, R.I. — Nearly two years to the day before Robert Dorgan opened fire on his family during a high school hockey game in Pawtucket, one of his sons tried to burn down a Black Pentecostal church near his home.

Kevin Colantonio, 37, who is now serving time in a federal prison in Texas, had written notebooks full of violent, racist comments — “hunt them down, gun everyone down who isn’t white” — before trying to light the Shiloh Gospel Temple on fire with a Bic lighter and $10 worth of gasoline in February 2024.

Colantonio’s father, who had neo-Nazi tattoos on his right bicep, also shared white nationalist and conspiracy posts on X, bragged about his firearms, and said he supported “white power.”

Dorgan had three sons and three daughters from different relationships. On Monday, the family had gone to watch the youngest son play in a high school hockey game at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket. Dorgan sat apart from them in the stands at first but soon moved down to where they were sitting near the front, behind the players’ bench.

Dorgan shot and killed his ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and his older son, Aidan Dorgan, and critically wounded his in-laws and a family friend before bystanders grabbed his gun. Dorgan drew a second gun and turned it on himself.

The motive is unknown. Rhonda Dorgan’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, both 75, and her friend Thomas Geruso, 54, an assistant principal at Shea High School in Pawtucket, remained in critical condition on Wednesday.

North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero Jr. confirmed on Wednesday that Dorgan was Colantonio’s biological father. The connection was first reported by WPRI.

Dorgan lived with Colantonio in a home on Lydia Avenue in North Providence around 2004, when Colantonio was a teenager. That was around the same time that Dorgan began cross-dressing, Ruggiero said. Dorgan later transitioned, and also went by Roberta Dorgan and Roberta Esposito, though it’s unclear whether the name was legally changed.

Ruggiero said that the investigators realized the connection between the suspect in the Pawtucket shooting and the person who tried to burn down the church on Wednesday morning, and reviewed their interview with Colantonio’s mother, Marlyse Dunbar, from when he was arrested. She told them that Dorgan was Colantonio’s father.

Dunbar did not return calls from the Globe seeking comment.

Colantonio was sentenced last June to more than six years in federal prison for the arson at the church and for throwing feces and urine at correctional officers.

Ruggiero said it’s unknown whether Dorgan and Colantonio were in communication before the arson at the church, or whether the father’s far-right and white nationalist views influenced the son. A day after the February 2024 arson, Colantonio privately messaged an unidentified family member and said no one in the community cared about the arson, according to court documents. In messages, Colantonio called the church “Atheist God mockers,” adding, “They’re busy dancing around collecting money,” according to the documents. It’s unclear if Colantonio was messaging Dorgan.

Lawrence J. Signore, an attorney representing the Dorgan family, said Wednesday that he had “no idea who Kevin” Colantonio was.

In a statement, Signore said that the family was “deeply and profoundly affected” by the shooting and that they were cooperating with authorities.

“We are reminded that behind every headline is a family experiencing profound pain and loss. We care greatly for all families impacted by this recent tragedy and our thoughts are with them,” Signore said in a statement. “While there are many questions being asked, please know we are focused on all of those who have been injured and whose lives have been forever changed.”

Amanda Milkovits can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @AmandaMilkovits. Alexa Gagosz can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her @alexagagosz and on Instagram @AlexaGagosz.