Three people, including the suspected gunman, were killed in a shooting during a youth hockey game, authorities said. Police Chief Tina Goncalves said three other victims remain hospitalized in critical condition following the shooting at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena.
“It appears that this was a targeted event, that it may be a family dispute," the police said, without releasing details about the suspect or the victims. Authorities are working to reconstruct the sequence of events and interviewing witnesses who were inside the arena at the time. Authorities are also reviewing video footage from the game.
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Unverified videos circulating on social media appear to show players diving to the ice and spectators scrambling for exits after gunshots rang out.
JUST IN 🇺🇸🚨: New video shows the moment sh0ts were fired inside the Dennis M. Lynch Arena ice rink in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, during a high school hockey game, killing a young girl and injuring four others.pic.twitter.com/pI4ZSNFxse
— Meme Demon (@MemeDemonMode)February 16, 2026
Outside the arena, emotional scenes unfolded as tearful families embraced and high school hockey players, still wearing their uniforms, gathered before boarding buses to leave. Police sealed off surrounding roads as officers maintained a heavy presence and helicopters circled overhead.
The shooting comes less than two months after a separate gun violence incident in Rhode Island, in which a gunman killed two students and injured nine others at Brown University before later taking his own life.
Pawtucket Mayor Don Grebien said, “Fortunately, 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 fans watching, and it turned into this."
Pawtucket, a city of nearly 80,000 residents near the Massachusetts border, has long been known as the home of toy company Hasbro.
Source: World News in news18.com, World Latest News, World News
