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Former fire chief identified as bystander killed in shooting at Trump rally

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Louise Thomas

The attendee who was killed at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a fatal shooting occurred, has been identified as 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, according to his sister.

“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother Corey Comperatore,” Dawn Comperatore Schafer wrote on Facebook on Sunday morning.

Authorities announced that a spectator died on Saturday evening.

She said her younger brother just turned 50 and posted a photo of him with her family holding up 5 and 0 balloons.

Trump raises his fist in the air after being shot in the ear
Trump raises his fist in the air after being shot in the ear (AFP via Getty Images)

“The hatred of a man took the life of the man we loved most. He was a hero who protected his daughters. His wife and daughters have experienced the unthinkable and unimaginable,” she continued. “Hate has no boundaries and love has no limits. Pray for my sister-in-law, my nieces, my mother, my sister, me and his nieces and nephews because this feels like a horrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality.”

In the shooting – which is now considered an assassination attempt against Trump – the former president was wounded, two bystanders were injured and Comperatore was killed. The other two participants in the rally have not been identified.

Comperatore was fire chief but recently retired, WPXI reported.

He was a project and tool engineer at JSP and, according to his social media profiles, lived in Sarver, Pennsylvania.

The suspected shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by authorities. He reportedly used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle in the attack.

Follow our live blog to stay up to date on the aftermath of the assassination attempt on Donald Trump.

The former president said he was “fine” and had been shot in the ear, thanking God for preventing the “unthinkable.”

About 15 minutes after Trump’s rally began, numerous shots were fired in the hall, whereupon the Republican candidate retreated behind his lectern.

Secret service agents rushed to the stage and helped Trump to his feet. The former president raised his fist in defiance, leaving a trail of blood on his face, before being led off the stage.