popping balloons before quickly realizing it was gunfire<\/a>. As dozens of people rushed out of the Rhode Island arena, Black told his wife to \u201crun, run\u201d and then lunged toward the shooter’s handgun.<\/p>\nBlack managed to get his left hand caught in the chamber of Robert Dorgan’s gun, jamming it and then briefly attempted to hold Dorgan down. But Dorgan, a former bodybuilder, hoisted Black into the air before at least two other bystanders rushed over to subdue the shooter. One of them could be seen on video putting Dorgan into a choke hold.<\/p>\n
Dorgan fell to the ground, with Black on top of him. The shooter died from a self-inflicted gunshot after pulling out a second gun as the two locked eyes. Black never heard Dorgan say a word. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe first thought was the safety of my wife. And the second thought was, because the bullets were coming out, was to focus in on the gun,\u201d Black said. \u201cGet the gun and then subdue the shooter.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pawtucket police have said the shooter behind the deadly ice rink tragedy on Monday was Robert Dorgan, who also went by Roberta Esposito and Roberta Dorgano.<\/p>\n
Dorgan’s ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and adult son Aidan Dorgan were killed in the shooting, and three others were injured: Rhonda Dorgan\u2019s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan; and a family friend, Thomas Geruso, all of whom remained in critical condition Wednesday. <\/p>\n
Pawtucket police say the group of \u201ccourageous citizens\u201d who rushed to intervene in the attack \u201cundoubtedly prevented further injury and increased the chances of survival for the injured.\u201d Along with Black, Robert Robert Rattenni, and Ryan Cordeiro are being credited as subduing the suspect. Separately, Chris Librizzi and Glenn Narodowy, both retired Rhode Island firefighters and EMTs, and nurse Maryann Rattenni provided first aid in the immediate aftermath.<\/p>\n
\u201cI look at it as being fortunate, saddened tremendously in the loss, but fortunate that a small group of people could make a difference,\u201d Black said in a zoom interview Thursday from South Carolina where he was on a college visit with his son. <\/p>\n
Authorities have not directly said that Dorgan was transgender and have said questions around Dorgan\u2019s gender identity are not relevant to their investigation surrounding the case.<\/p>\n
However, court records from Dorgan\u2019s past show that gender identity was at least one of the contributing factors to Dorgan\u2019s wife filing for divorce in 2020 after nearly 30 years of marriage. Dorgan’s X account mention being transgender and sharing far-right ideologies.<\/p>\n
Black said Dorgan was walking down rows of seats determined to shoot more people. As he pinned the shooter’s head with his knee, Black said he noticed Dorgan had additional magazines holding \u201cquite a few bullets.” <\/p>\n
With Dorgan dead, other bystanders rushed to provide treatment for the five people who had been shot and were lying between the bleachers. Blood was everywhere. Police arrived within in minutes and, Black with his injured hand, was escorted outside in the parking lot where he reunited with his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy wife saw me and she ran underneath the yellow tape, kind of grabbed me from behind, and we gave a big hug,\u201d Black said. \u201cShe said, \u2018I heard you helped with the shooter. And she says, what\u2019s all the blood? I said, \u2019I got my hand caught in the gun.’ And then she said, \u2018Honey, I don\u2019t know whether I should be proud of you, but I\u2019m pissed off at you for putting yourself in that situation.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n
As he was sitting in the hospital getting treatment on his injured hand, Black recalled a nurse calling him a hero \u2014 a label that has repeatedly been applied to all three bystanders in recent days.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said I don\u2019t feel like I\u2019m a hero right now,\u201d Black said. \u201cI looked up and I was feeling for the family. So I started getting some tears in my eyes. And then she got tears in her eyes, too. It was just a moment of decompression at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n
___<\/p>\n
Casey reported from Boston. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\n
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