Trump rally shooting victim died shielding family from bullets

PENNSYLVANIA – Mr Corey Comperatore, 50, was at a Donald Trump campaign rally on July 13 with his family, according to a long-time friend. When shots rang out, he threw himself over his family members – and was fatally shot in the process.

Mr Comperatore’s sister, Ms Dawn Comperatore Schafer, confirmed his identity in a phone interview on July 14. “We watched him die on the news,” she said through tears. “That’s how we found out.”

She also said in a Facebook post: “The PA Trump rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most.”

Mr Comperatore of Sarver, Pennsylvania, had two daughters – Allyson, 27, and Kaylee, 24 – and was “definitely a family man”, according to a long-time friend, Mr Jeff Lowers, 63.

He and Mr Comperatore were volunteer firefighters, and Mr Lowers said Mr Comperatore’s quick instincts appeared to come into play during the shooting. Mr Lowers said he learnt of that account from Mr Comperatore’s wife Helen.

“Being a volunteer fireman, no matter what you’re doing, when the whistle goes off and the monitor goes off, you go and do what you need to do,” Mr Lowers said. “We never considered ourselves heroes. But yesterday, he definitely was.”

Dr James Sweetland, an emergency room physician who was at the event, rushed to help Mr Comperatore after he was shot. He said Mr Comperatore was lying in a pool of blood, and two people helped lift him onto a bench so he could give him cardiopulmonary resuscitation. Someone else put pressure on Mr Comperatore’s wound above his ear. But Dr Sweetland said there was no pulse. Two Pennsylvania state troopers helped lift Mr Comperatore onto a stretcher.

Two other men were wounded at the rally and being treated at Allegheny General Hospital in Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania State Police identified them as Mr David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania, and Mr James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania. A hospital spokesperson said both were in critical but stable condition.

Law enforcement officials said the rally attendees were shot by the gunman, who opened fire from an elevated position outside the security perimeter.

Another person wounded during the attack is a nephew of Republican Representative Ronny Jackson of Texas, who served as Trump’s White House doctor. Dr Jackson wrote in a post on social platform X that a bullet grazed his nephew’s neck.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, a Democrat, said on July 14 that Mr Comperatore had “died a hero”.

“Corey dived on his family to protect them last night at this rally,” said Mr Shapiro, who spoke to Mr Comperatore’s widow. “Corey was the very best of us.”

“Corey was a girl dad,” Mr Shapiro said. “Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community and most especially Corey loves his family.”

He described the victim “as an avid supporter of the former president”.

Mr Comperatore loved to fish, so much so that he refused to buy fish at the grocery store, Mr Lowers said. He took meticulous care of his home, boat and cars.

He worked at JSP, a plastic manufacturing company, said another friend and fellow firefighter, Mr Gary Risch Jr. Mr Comperatore previously served as a fire chief in Buffalo Township, on the outskirts of Pittsburgh, Mr Risch said.

On July 14, an American flag waved in the humid breeze from the front porch of Mr Comperatore’s grey and white-trimmed home in the town of Sarver, where modest residential houses abut farms and woodlands by Little Buffalo Creek. A dozen long-stemmed roses lay on the front lawn.

Mr George Scott, Mr Comperatore’s brother-in-law, briefly stepped out of the Comperatores’ house. “We’re doing terribly,” he said. “He was everything to them,” he added, referring to the family. Mr Scott was then ushered back into the house by the family’s pastor, the Reverend Jonathan Fehl of nearby Cabot Church.

“They want to be alone in their grieving process,” Rev Fehl said of the family.

Mr Comperatore was selected as a future trustee of Cabot Church in 2021, helping to oversee issues such as church property and insurance. The church disaffiliated from the United Methodist Church in 2023 and joined a new denomination that does not ordain or marry gay people.

The most recent Cabot Church newsletter celebrated Mr Comperatore’s birthday, on June 14, and his wedding anniversary, on June 22.

Mr Matt Achilles, 33, has lived several houses down from the Comperatores for eight years. He described Mr Comperatore as a staple in their tight-knit neighbourhood. Mr Comperatore could often be seen on a tractor, mowing his lawn or taking care of his two beloved and well-trained dobermans.

A few years ago, a vehicle wound up in Mr Comperatore’s yard after an accident.

“As soon as the car was out of there with the tow truck, he’s out there fixing it,” Mr Achilles recalled. “He was so attentive to detail when it came to stuff like that.”

Mr Achilles said Mr Comperatore had donated money to him through an online fund-raising platform when he was ill and hospitalised several years ago. Last Christmas, he recalled, Mr Comperatore asked if Mr Achilles knew of anyone in need so he could donate a ham. He ended up giving one to a single mother with five children.

“You’re a good man!” Mr Achilles messaged him.

Trump had just begun his speech at the Pennsylvania rally when the sound of shots rang out and it became apparent that he

was also injured when a bullet grazed his right ear.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has identified 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, as the suspect in what the government is calling an assassination attempt on Trump. NYTIMES, REUTERS