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Former firefighter killed at Trump rally hailed as a 'hero,' two more victims identified

Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed when gunshots broke out at a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday.

By Mirna Alsharif
July 14, 2024

A man killed at a campaign rally for former President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday has been identified as 50-year-old former fire chief Corey Comperatore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Sunday.

Two other Pennsylvania residents were also shot at the rally, Shapiro said. They were identified by Pennsylvania State Police as David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. They’re both in stable condition.

Comperatore was an avid supporter of Trump and excited to be at Trump’s rally Saturday in Butler, Shapiro said. He was there with his wife and two daughters and dove over them to protect them when gunshots were heard in the crowd.

“Corey died a hero,” Shapiro said of the Sarver, Pennsylvania man.

Shapiro described Comperatore as a “girl dad” who went to church every Sunday and loved his family and community.

Corey Comperatore. photo

“Corey was the very best of us, may his memory be a blessing,” Shapiro said.

President Joe Biden extended his condolences to Comperatore’s family in a speech Saturday afternoon.

“He was a father. He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired,” Biden said. “He lost his life. God loved him.”

Paul Hayden, 62, a neighbor of Comperatore’s for about 20 years, described him as an “easygoing guy” whom he got along with despite their political differences.

“He knew I was a Biden fan, I knew he’s a Trump fan,” Hayden told NBC News. “But we never let that come in between us. We still said ‘hi’ to each other, we still talked to each other. Some people take it to the extreme.”

Hayden recalled memories of riding dirt bikes with Comperatore, and said his death “hit close to home.”

Brant Dempster, 60, who lived near Comperatore for about 11 years, said he was “a patriotic guy” and very well-respected in the community.

Dempster almost attended Trump’s rally Saturday, but decided against it due to a gut feeling.

“I could have very well been at that rally,” Dempster said Sunday. “I had friends and family that were at the rally, and it’s a pretty traumatic thing to have people shooting around you like that.”

David Fennell, 73, worked under Comperatore for 20 years at JSP, a plastics manufacturing company, and said he often came into work smelling like smoke from his volunteer firefighter work.

"You want to know what type of person he was? I had brain cancer, and he kept in touch with me the whole time I had my chemo and everything," Fennell said. Compertore was passionate about his family and his two Doberman pinschers, he added.

Leroy Snow, 71, who also worked with Comperatore at JSP, said "his family was everything to him" and that he was "a very fair man."

"If you had a problem you could talk to him about it and he would take everything into consideration," Snow said.

Shapiro said Saturday that the shooting was "shocking" for the Butler community and the country at large.

“Political disagreements can never, ever be addressed through violence," he said "Disagreements are OK, but we need to use a peaceful political process to settle those differences.”

Gunshots were heard about six minutes into Trump’s speech Saturday. The former president could be seen clutching his ear after popping noises rang out over the rally. Trump ducked to the ground as several Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and surrounded him on all sides, and there were screams from onlookers as the scene unfolded.

Trump said he was shot by a bullet that pierced the upper part of his right ear.

The FBI said the shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, was immediately killed by the Secret Service. A motive is not known at this time.

In his speech Saturday, Biden said, “There is no place in America for this kind of violence, or any violence.”

“An assassination attempt is contrary to everything we stand for as a nation, everything. It’s not who we are as a nation. It’s not America, and we cannot allow this to happen,” he said.


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