A son of Pawtucket ice rink shooter Robert Dorgan is serving time in federal prison for setting fire to a predominantly Black church in North Providence.
Kevin Colantonio, 37, pleaded guilty last February to setting fires on the exterior of Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries in February 2024.
He was sentenced to more than six years in prison.
A shooting was reported at the Dennis M. Lynch Arena in Pawtucket, Monday, Feb. 16, 2026. (WJAR)
North Providence Police Chief Alfredo Ruggiero told NBC10 Wednesday investigators with his department and the Attorney General’s office confirmed the connection between Colantonio and Dorgan earlier in the day.
Ruggiero said Dorgan and Colantonio shared an address in North Providence more than 20 years ago, but it’s unclear how much if any contact they had in recent years.
Dorgan’s family has told NBC10 Dorgan had six children.
Dorgan also went by the name Roberta Esposito, wore women’s clothing, and posted on social media about being transgender and having a sex change surgery in 2017.
Pawtucket Police say Dorgan shot and killed his ex-wife Rhonda Dorgan and their son Aidan Dorgan while they were sitting in the stands at the Dennis Lynch arena Monday watching another son play in a high school hockey game.
Dorgan also shot and critically inured Rhonda’s parents, Linda and Gerald Dorgan, and family friend Thomas Geruso.
Bystanders tackled Dorgan before he used a second handgun to shoot and kill himself.
Colantonio is Dorgan’s child from a previous relationship.
A surveillance camera captures a suspected arsonist outside of the Shiloh Gospel Temple Ministries in North Providence. (Pastor Perry)
After Colantonio’s arrest in the church fire, authorities said a notebook seized at his home read, “hunt them down, gun them down, everyone that isn’t white” and “burn churches to the ground.”
Prosecutors said Colantonio had “extremely racist ideology.”
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Robert Dorgan’s many social media posts on X also included racist memes.
