Corey Comperatore: Man killed at Trump rally in Pennsylvania was a firefighter who ‘died a hero’

CNN
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Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed in the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump, Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said Sunday.

Comperatore was one of thousands of people who attended the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, part of Trump’s efforts to win re-election in 2024. He died trying to protect his family, according to the governor. Pennsylvania State Police confirmed his identity on Sunday.

Authorities have identified the gunman in Saturday’s attack as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service agents at the scene after the shooting. The FBI is investigating the attack as an attempted murder, the agency said.

“I just spoke to Corey’s wife and Corey’s two daughters,” Shapiro said Sunday.

“Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be in the community with him last night,” the governor said.

“I asked Corey’s wife if it was OK if I told everyone we spoke. She said yes. She also asked me to tell you all that Corey died a hero,” Shapiro added.

“Corey lunged at his family last night at that rally to protect them.”

“Corey was a father of girls. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. But most of all, Corey loved his family,” Shapiro said.

Shapiro said he ordered flags flown at half-mast in memory of Comperatore.

According to the Pennsylvania State Police, two other people besides Comperatore were seriously injured in the incident.

David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, were in stable condition, state police said in a news release.

The Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania, Inc. identified Dutch as the commander at their organization’s Westmoreland County location. Vice Commander Matt Popovich said on Facebook that Dutch underwent two surgeries after being “shot in the liver and chest.”

“These victims and their families are in our thoughts today,” said state police Chief Col. Christopher Paris. “The Pennsylvania State Police continue to work tirelessly with our federal, state and local partners as this investigation continues.”

The former president said on social media that he had been shot in his right ear and that his face was covered in blood.

A GoFundMe campaign for the victims’ families, confirmed by the fundraising platform, had raised over $3 million by Sunday afternoon, more than three times the original goal. According to the website, more than 42,000 donations have been received.

In a speech Sunday afternoon, President Joe Biden expressed his condolences to Comperatore’s family.

“We also extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim killed,” the President said. “He was a father; he was protecting his family from the bullets that were fired when he lost his life. May God love him. We also pray for the full recovery of the injured.”

Witnesses described the wave of chaos and terror that erupted after the gunman, perched on a rooftop directly outside the venue, fired several shots from an AR-style weapon.

As shots rang out and the former president ducked under the podium, surrounded by Secret Service agents, those in attendance screamed and ducked to the ground, a video from the scene shows.

“It was just the scariest thing, there weren’t many places to hide,” witness Amber DiFrischia told CNN.

DiFrischia and her husband Mike filmed the moment the shooter fired his weapon. The video shows the shooter lying on the roof with his gun drawn and eventually dead.

When the couple realized he had a gun, Amber immediately began yelling at the officers and pointing to his location. The couple said many of the officers were too close to the building to see the shooter on the roof. Mike saw one of the officers attempt to climb onto the roof, but the officer eventually fell back to the ground.

Republican Congressman Dan Meuser told CNN he was sitting in the front row of the rally with Pennsylvania Senate candidate Dave McCormick and Republican Rep. Mike Kelly and saw a man shot “not 20 feet behind them,” he said.

Joseph Meyn, a surgeon from Grove City, Pennsylvania, told CNN he helped carry a man’s body out of the stadium.

“Of course everyone started screaming and calling for a paramedic. Frankly, it was a bloody scene,” said Meuser.

He was standing on the far right of the podium, filming Trump’s speech, when he heard the shots.

“Just as I turned back, I heard seven shots in quick succession, in less than two or three seconds. I know about guns, I knew immediately that they were gunshots,” Meyn told CNN. “I saw him get hit.”

Meyn said he looked back in the direction the shots had come from. “I saw that a man in the stands had been hit directly in the head… there was a woman who had been hit in the hand and forearm, a non-critical injury.”

He said he went over to see if he could help, but another doctor was already tending to the woman who had been shot.

“I helped carry the man’s body out of the stands,” he said. “They took the body to the tent behind the stands.”

Dr. Jim Sweetland, a retired emergency room physician, attempted to resuscitate Comperatore. Sweetland told CNN he heard gunshots and then “a woman’s voice yelling, ‘He’s been shot. He’s on the ground.'”

After performing CPR with the help of some bystanders, Sweetland looked up and saw Comperatore’s family. He said the look on their faces was “something I will never forget.”

Sweetland said he wanted to tell Comperatore’s family: “Your father died a hero.”

As he was leaving the rally, a war veteran stopped Sweetland and said, “Brother, you have blood on your face, here’s some water, you can wash your face with this,” the doctor recalled.

“This was another American who wanted to help me after I tried to help Corey, and to me, that’s America’s lifeblood,” he said.

Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson of Texas said his nephew was also injured in the shooting.

In an interview with Fox News, Jackson said his nephew “suffered grazing wounds to the neck, a bullet went through his neck, cut his neck, and he was bleeding.”

The congressman called it a “horrific, horrific experience.”

Another participant who witnessed the shooting described an atmosphere of “complete shock.”

“It was too close for comfort,” Donna Hutz told CNN. She and her son were standing just a few rows in front of the shot spectators. She looked up and saw the injured spectators and the stands were covered in a lot of blood, she said.

The shooting sent shockwaves around the world, with international leaders including Biden, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the Vatican condemning the attack and political violence more broadly.

Authorities are still investigating the shooter’s possible motives and how he got into the area with a weapon.

“It’s surprising, but all the details will come to light as the investigation progresses,” FBI Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek said at a press conference when asked how the shooter was able to fire multiple shots.

This story has been updated with additional information.