A high school hockey game ended in tragedy in Pawtucketworking city of Rhode Islandwhen a gunman opened fire during an interschool gathering. The attack left three muertos —including the alleged aggressor— and three injured in critical condition, according to local authorities.
The shooting occurred while a game was being played between cooperative teams made up of students from several districts. According to Police Chief Tina Goncalves, “it appears to be a targeted event, which could be a family dispute.” The official told local media that the suspect died from a self-inflicted wound and that the police were not involved in his death.
At the time of going to press, the authorities had not released the names of the victims or the alleged shooter, nor had they determined with certainty the motive for the attack; The main line of investigation pointed, preliminarily, to a family conflict.
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Videos of the match, broadcast live, recorded at least a dozen shots fired in a matter of seconds. Players and spectators ducked and sought cover while others ran for the exits. No students were injured. The schools involved confirmed that all their students have been located and are already reunited with their families.
The response included municipal police, Rhode Island State Police and federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). Democratic Governor Dan McKee declared that the northeastern state of the American Union “is grieving again,” alluding to the mass shooting that occurred on December 13 at Brown University, where two students died.
With this episode, the United States has accumulated at least 42 mass shootings so far in 2026, according to the Gun Violence Archive. As of yesterday, the non-profit organization recorded approximately 1,535 incidents with firearms and 2,516 injuries in just six weeks of this year.
The attack in Pawtucket comes days after another high-impact event in North America: on February 10, a shooting at a school in British Columbia, Canada, left nine dead—including the attacker, a transgender minor—and 27 injured.
In both cases, spaces associated with school life were marked by armed violence. A phenomenon that, far from being isolated, maintains a sustained frequency so far this year.
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