It was senior night — the final home game at Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, R.I., for the seniors on the Blackstone Valley Schools boys’ hockey team.
Coach Chris Librizzi remembers shaking hands with the nine seniors on the team and giving them a big hug. After the game, the plan was to hop over to The Guild, a beer hall less than a half mile from the rink, to celebrate the graduating class.
With a 2-0 lead against Coventry midway through the first period, Librizzi recalls his players being jubilant, thrilled with how they were playing. That’s when he heard what he thought was a balloon pop. Then the noise occurred again, this time in quick succession, and Librizzi realized what was unfolding.
Robert Dorgan, also known as Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgan, opened fire in the stands, according to police, killing two spectators before fatally turning the weapon on themself. The victims were later revealed to be Dorgan’s ex-wife, Rhonda Dorgan, and son, Aidan Dorgan. Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and a family friend, Thomas Geruso, were also critically injured in the incident. Gerald later died from his injuries on Feb. 25. The family was in attendance to support Colin Dorgan, the son of the perpetrator, who’s a senior on Blackstone Valley.
First, Librizzi told his players to get down, but quickly instructed his team to exit Lynch Arena using the door located directly behind the home bench. After making sure the players exited safely, Librizzi, a retired Rhode Island firefighter, raced back to the bench for his medical bag, which he typically uses to treat minor injuries. Then he jumped into the stands with fellow firefighter Glen Narodowy, whose girlfriend’s son is also on the team, to assist those who were struck by the gunfire.
“I’ve been a 26-year firefighter, and I’ve been through multiple traumas in my career,” Librizzi said in an interview with New England Hockey Journal. “This has, by far, been the worst…I’ve never experienced a firsthand traumatic event like this.”
In the weeks after the shooting, Librizzi, the players and the parents were together every single day. “We’re staying together as a hockey family,” he said.
“I want them to not change their schedule that they have, being busy from three in the afternoon until seven at night, every day — and that’s what we’re doing,” Librizzi said.
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Part of that routine has been attending counseling sessions as a team and as individuals through both Tides Family Services and Family Service of Rhode Island. Librizzi described both organizations as a “blessing” to have by everyone’s side.
Additionally, there have been team dinners every night and fun events to take everyone’s mind off what happened. When he spoke with New England Hockey Journal, Librizzi and the group were at Topgolf in Cranston. So far, they’ve visited Wright's Farm in Burrillville, paid for by the Burrillville Booster Club, and The Village Haven restaurant in Forestdale.
The team has received an outpouring of support from people and organizations far and wide. John Ferguson Jr., the assistant general manager of the Utah Mammoth, reached out to Librizzi, expressing his condolences. Nearly every other high school across the state has reached out, offering up ice time or a joint skate. Providence College gave Blackstone Valley access to its ice for the remainder of the season, when the team decided not to return to Lynch Arena. New York Rangers and Team USA head coach Mike Sullivan opened one of his press conferences in Milan, Italy, to express his thoughts and prayers. The response has been so overwhelming that Librizzi was unaware of Sullivan’s comments at the time of the interview with New England Hockey Journal.
“Just the outpouring of love and support from the youth hockey organizations doing fundraisers for us, just for the thoughts and the prayers from people reaching out to me from all over the United States, has just been overwhelming with tremendous gratitude on our part,” Librizzi said.
While Colin Dorgan hadn’t yet fully reintegrated with his teammates at the time of the interview, Librizzi made it a point to visit him and his sister every day.
“They’re struggling,” Librizzi said. “But when I tell you that they are one tough family, they are tough, extremely tough, and they’re resilient, and they are being so strong through this whole process.”
Librizzi would have understood if Dorgan didn’t want to rejoin the team, but having known his mother, he knew she “would’ve kicked my ass” if he hadn’t encouraged Dorgan to return. “His sister chimed in and said, ‘Coach, you’re right, she would, and then she would kick Colin’s ass,’” Librizzi recalled.
When the team returned to the ice on Feb. 21, Dorgan did too. The final two regular-season games were canceled for Blackstone Valley — the team will compete again starting with the state quarterfinals, which is a three-game series beginning this Friday.
Librizzi can’t overstate the impact the tragedy has had on his players and the families involved; that’s why he’s made such an effort to keep everyone close during times of extreme grief.
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“We hear about incidents like this taking place with gun violence all over the place, in schools, in churches — I’ve never heard of it taking place in a hockey league,” he said. “The hockey rink is our safe haven. It’s our home away from home that we go to two hours a day to yell at our kids, sometimes they yell back at us. It’s a place that is supposed to be safe and a place that they’re comfortable in, and that clearly has now changed, and our safe place, our home, was violated by this tragic incident.”
Everyone involved — the players, the parents, and the coaches — will be impacted by this incident for the rest of their lives, Librizzi said, but bringing a sense of normalcy back into everyday life is all he’s trying to do.
“I think it’s starting to make an impact on them,” Librizzi said. “I’m seeing the joy come back slightly, but it’ll never be there fully.”
