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A bystander who heroically tackled and disarmed the twisted transgender father who opened fire on his family members during a high school hockey game in Rhode Island had to get stitches on the hand he used to grab the gun, he said.
Michael Black was in the bleachers to support a friend’s son who was skating in the tournament at Lynch Arena in Pawtucket Monday afternoon when Robert Dorgan, 56, opened fire at four family members and a family friend, WCVB reported.
“I heard two shots, and I said, ‘balloons popping,'” Black told the outlet. “I heard another popping and recognized it was not a balloon.”
The popping noise was the sound of Dorgan gunning down his son and ex-wife and gravely wounding her parents and a friend.
After noticing the shooter — who also went by the female alias Roberta Esposito — Black told his wife and friend to run and selflessly lunged at the gunman.
“I hesitated for about a second, you’ll see that on the video… because I was looking at him and as soon as the people cleared is when I got up on the next step and jumped,” Black said.
“I just grabbed, went for the gun and I got my hand caught,” he said.
Black’s left hand was lodged in the weapon’s chamber, preventing it from being fired again. Other bystanders then jumped in to help restrain Dorgan while the deranged father kept trying to pull the trigger.
“They’re trying to tackle him. And then he fell down, and he fell right towards me. So he was on his back,” recalled Black, who has no formal law enforcement training.
Additional magazines loaded with ammunition fell out of Dorgan’s possession as the bystanders tackled him, Black said.
Dorgan then took out a second gun and fatally shot himself.
Following the terrifying ordeal, Black now has nine stitches in his hand from where he grabbed Dorgan’s gun and a burn mark on his face where one of the shells ejected during the initial gunfire.
Pawtucket Police Chief Tina Goncalves had praised a “good Samaritan” who she said stepped in and “attempted to subdue” Dorgan during a press conference on Monday night.
Pawtucket Mayor Donald Grebien also commended the three individuals who wrestled with the madman, saying their selfless bravery “saved lives.”
However, Black rejected the title of “hero” despite his life-saving actions during the harrowing afternoon at the ice rink.
“That’s not the right definition for me,” he said. “There’s heroes in my life, and I would definitely not put that definition towards myself.”
Dorgan was armed with a Glock 10mm and a SIG Sauer P226 at the time of the “very targeted attack.”
His ex-wife Rhonda, 52, and their son Aidan Dorgan, 23, were both killed when he opened fire in the packed arena — sending students and spectators scurrying for cover.
The three victims who were wounded in the heartless attack were Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso, Goncalves said.
English (US)