At least two people were killed and three others wounded in a shooting at an ice rink in the northeastern US town of Pawtucket on Monday, authorities said, with social media footage showing terrified teenagers fleeing the sound of gunfire.
“We have three deceased: the suspect and then two victims, and three at the hospital,” said Tina Goncalves, police chief of the Rhode Island community.
She added that initial investigations suggested the shooting was targeted and “may be a family dispute".
No details were immediately released on the identities of the victims, but Goncalves said the wounded were in “critical condition".
Mass shootings are common in the United States, where lax gun control laws make access to weapons relatively easy.
In 2025, there were more than 400 mass shootings in the US, 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 overall claimed at least 14,703 lives last year, excluding suicides.
Monday’s shooting, which occurred during a high school ice hockey game, came two months after a mass shooting at Brown University, just 3.5 miles (5.6 kilometres) away.
Footage shared on social media, which has not been verified by AFP, showed players, students and spectators at Pawtucket’s Dennis M Lynch Arena fleeing for cover as shots rang out across the indoor ice rink.
“After the gunshots, me and my teammates ran right to the locker room,” one eyewitness, who was on the ice when the shots were fired, told local news station WJAR.
“We pressed against the door and tried to stay safe down in there.”
At least 12 shots can be heard in the social media footage, which appears to have been taken from a livestream of the game.
The teams initially continued playing, but as the staccato bursts of gunfire continued, players fled to the edges of the rink or made a break for the exits, while spectators were seen ducking for cover.
