Trump rally victim identified as Corey Comperatore, 'hero' shielded wife and girls from bullets
Family members identified Corey Comperatore as the rally goer who was killed Saturday in an assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Family members identified Corey Comperatore as the rally goer who was killed Saturday in an assassination attempt on former President Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania.
Comperatore, 50, was a former fire chief for Buffalo Township, a volunteer fire service, local news station WPXI reported. He was shot and killed when Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire on Trump from a sniper's perch some 130 yards away during the campaign event.
Two others were critically injured in the shooting, authorities said, while former president Trump's ear was grazed in the deadly attack.
The victim's sister, Dawn Comperatore Schafer, wrote in a Facebook post that Corey "was a hero that shielded his daughters."
SUSPECTED TRUMP ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT SHINES LIGHT ON RALLY SECURITY
"His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable," Dawn Comperatore Schafer wrote.
"My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality."
The post was accompanied by a photograph of Corey celebrating his 50th birthday.
According to witnesses at the rally, one victim was shot in the head, now assumed to be Comperatore. An emergency room doctor at the rally revealed how he performed CPR on a member of the crowd, per reports.
Another family member, Allyson Comperatore, believed to be the victim's daughter, also took to Facebook to share her loss and paid an emotional tribute.
"Yesterday time stopped. And when it started again, my family and I started living a real-life nightmare," Allyson wrote. "He was the best dad a girl could ask for."
She posted several photos of him, including images of Comperatore fishing and with a birthday cake.
"The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero. They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us."
"He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a bullet for us."
A GoFundMe set up for his family has already raised nearly $80,000.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said on Sunday he spoke with the wife of Corey Comperatore, and noted he was a man of faith.
"We lost a fellow Pennsylvanian last night," Shapiro said at a news conference. "Corey Comperatore was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community, and most especially Corey loves his family. Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community."
"I asked Corey's wife if it would be okay for me to share that we spoke. She said yes. She also asked that I share with all of you that Corey died a hero, that Corey dove on his family to protect them," the governor said.
"Last night at this rally, Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing."
Shapiro concluded his remarks by noting that political disagreements "can never, ever be addressed through violence."
"Disagreements are okay, but we need to use a peaceful political process to settle those differences," he said.
Matt Achilles, who lived near Comperatore for four years, described Comperatore as a good neighbor and a dedicated public servant to the Tribune-Review.
"He was a good person," Achilles said Sunday morning. "We might not have agreed on the same political views, but that didn’t stop him from being a good friend and neighbor."
"He donated money to us when I was in the hospital and he would always come by at our yard sales. He always waved hello when I drove past his house."
Crooks, 20, was from Bethel Park, which is a Pittsburgh suburb about an hour south from where the assassination attempt took place.
A search by Fox News Digital revealed that Crooks would have turned 21 years old this September. He had no reported criminal or traffic citations and no reported bankruptcies, liens or foreclosures.
The FBI is investigating the shooting as an assassination attempt.
Fox News Digital's Scott McDonald contributed to this update.
