close
close

Who was Corey Comperatore? Firefighter killed in Trump assassination attempt

The victim of the shooting at a campaign rally for former US President Donald Trump in Pennsylvania on Saturday was a 50-year-old former fire chief named Corey Comperatore, said Josh Shapiro, the governor of Pennsylvania, on Sunday. He “died a hero.”

Corey Comperatore dies while protecting his family from gunfire at a Trump rally (Facebook)
Corey Comperatore dies while protecting his family from gunfire at a Trump rally (Facebook)

Comperatore, a Trump supporter, attended the rally in Butler with his wife and two daughters. When shots were fired, he heroically protected his family, throwing himself over them to shield them from the bullets. Governor Shapiro praised Comperatore’s bravery: “Corey died a hero.”

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

ALSO READ| ‘He was just very angry’: Meet the NYT’s Doug Mills, who photographed a bullet whizzing past Donald Trump

Remembering the late firefighter Corey Comperatore who “died a hero”

Comperatore’s sister wrote on Facebook that her brother was “a hero who protected his daughters.”

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

US President Joe Biden also expressed his condolences to Comperatore’s family in a speech on Saturday afternoon. He paid tribute to Comperatore’s sacrifice and said: “He was a father. He protected his family from the bullets that were fired. He lost his life. God loved him.”

Biden addressed the nation and condemned the violence, saying: “There is no place for this kind of violence, or violence of any kind, in America. An attempted murder goes against everything we stand for as a nation, everything. This is not who we are as a nation. This is not America, and we cannot allow this to happen.”

Paul Hayden, Comperatore’s neighbor for about 20 years, spoke fondly of him despite their political differences. “He knew I was a Biden fan, I knew he was a Trump fan,” Hayden said NBC News.

“But we never let it divide us. We still said ‘hi’ to each other and still talked to each other. Some people take it to extremes.”

Governor Shapiro said, “Political differences can never be resolved with violence.”

“It is fine to have differences of opinion, but we must resolve them through a peaceful political process.”

ALSO READ| Politicians who normalize violence should know that it can turn against them: Leading US expert on Trump’s rampage

Who were the other two victims at the Trump rally?

According to Governor Shapiro, two other people from Pennsylvania were also shot at the rally. According to the Pennsylvania State Police, the injured were identified as David Dutch (57) and James Copenhaver (74). Both are recovering well and are in stable condition.

U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson said his nephew was “injured” but “fortunately his injury was not serious.”

“They heard gunshots – that’s when my nephew noticed that he had blood on his neck and that something had grazed and cut his throat. He was treated by the nurses in the medical tent.”

The shooting occurred about six minutes after Trump’s speech. Trump held his ear after the shots were fired and quickly ducked as Secret Service agents surrounded him. The former president later admitted that he was grazed by a bullet that pierced the top of his right ear.

The FBI identified the shooter as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania. Crooks was immediately neutralized by the Secret Service. The FBI said they “currently have no identified motive” and “currently we have not identified any ideology associated with the perpetrator.”