- The police chief says the shooting appears to be targeted.
- A video on social media shows the teenagers fleeing as gunshots ring out.
- Three are in the hospital, all in critical condition.
At least two people were killed and three wounded in a shooting at an ice rink in the northeastern US city of Pawtucket on Monday, authorities said, with images on social media showing frightened teenagers fleeing the sound of gunfire.
“We have three deceased. The suspect, and then we have two victims, and then we have three in the hospital,” said Rhode Island Community Police Chief Tina Goncalves.
He added that initial investigations suggested the shooting was targeted and “may be a family dispute.”
Details about the victims’ identities were not immediately shared, but Gonçalves said the injured were in “critical condition.”
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where lax gun control laws mean access to guns is relatively easy.
In 2025, there were more than 400 mass shootings in the United States, according to the Gun Violence Archive, which counts incidents in which four or more people are shot or killed, not including the shooter.
Gun violence as a whole claimed at least 14,703 lives last year, not including suicides.
Monday’s shooting, which occurred at a high school ice hockey game, came two months after a mass shooting at Brown University, located just 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometers) away.
Images shared on social networks, which have not been verified by AFPshowed players, students and spectators at Pawtucket’s Dennis M Lynch Arena fleeing for cover as gunshots rang out over the indoor ice rink.
“After the shots were fired, my teammates and I ran straight to the locker room,” a witness, who was on the ice when the shots were fired, told the local news station. WJAR.
“We pressed against the door and tried to stay safe in there.”
At least 12 gunshots can be heard in social media footage, which appears to have been taken from a live stream of the game.
Initially, the teams continued to play, but as the burst of staccato gunfire continued, players fled to the edges of the court or escaped toward the exits, and spectators were seen ducking for cover.
