The rally goer killed on the failed assassination attempt of former President Trump at a marketing campaign occasion Saturday in Pennsylvania was recognized by the FBI as Corey Comperatore, a retired firefighter who died defending his family.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro mentioned Comperatore was sitting within the crowd when the gunman, whom authorities have recognized as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, opened hearth.
Retired firefighter Corey Comperatore.
(Corey Comperatore)
Shapiro mentioned he spoke to Comperatore’s spouse, who needed the general public to know he “died a hero.”
“Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally,” Shapiro mentioned at a information convention Sunday. “Corey was the very best of us. May his memory be a blessing.”
Comperatore was a lady dad, a firefighter and attended church each Sunday, Shapiro mentioned.
“And most especially, Corey loved his family,” the governor mentioned. “Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community.”
Shapiro mentioned he has directed flags be flown at half-staff in Comperatore’s reminiscence.
On Facebook, Comperatore’s sister, Dawn Comperatore Schafer, described him as a “hero that shielded his daughters” as pictures rang out.
Comperatore had simply turned 50, she wrote, and “had so much life left to experience.”
“The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most,” Comperatore Schafer wrote. “His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds.”
Comperatore Schafer declined to communicate Sunday when reached by telephone.
A person current on the residence of Comperatore’s daughter informed Times reporters that she — and the remainder of the family — don’t want to communicate to the media at the moment.
Witnesses on the Butler, Pa., rally describe the aftermath as a traumatizing and bewildering scene. Robert Runyan, 34, informed Times reporters he was 5 to 10 rows from the stage when the gunshots went off.
He mentioned when Trump acquired again up, after being tackled by Secret Service agents, the gang began cheering for him. But Runyan wasn’t celebrating with everybody else. He was extra targeted on a man within the bleachers who had been injured by the gunfire.
Three folks close by had been trying to assist him. One girl let loose a “blood-curdling” scream, which Runyan mentioned would “stick with him forever.”
Runyan mentioned he doesn’t know whether or not the particular person he noticed was Comperatore.
“I don’t want that image in my head,” he mentioned, his eyes welling with tears. “After I got home, I haven’t been able to look at the news or at anything people are saying. I just remember the way he was situated. A guy in a blue shirt was holding down on him and looking around and at the same time, there are people behind him cheering.”
A health care provider within the crowd — 51-year-old Joseph Meyn — mentioned he noticed a man get shot on the bleachers close by.
Meyn mentioned he moved to assist, encountering state troopers and a medic who had been already there. He mentioned he helped carry the person’s blood-soaked physique, which had been coated, out of the stands.
Meyn mentioned the person’s family appeared to be within the bleachers with him. He mentioned he heard one girl in her 20s or 30s ask whether or not the person was going to be OK.
“Someone said, ‘No, he’s dead.’ She immediately burst into hysterical tears, couldn’t breathe. You could physically watch her soul get crushed like it was an empty aluminum can,” Meyn mentioned. “I will go to my grave with that etched in my mind.”
In a information convention Sunday, President Biden prolonged his “deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed.”
“He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired,” Biden mentioned.
Trump, who mentioned he’ll “remain resilient” and proceed with campaign events, wrote on Truth Social that he was praying “for the recovery of those who were wounded, and hold in our hearts the memory of the citizen who was so horribly killed.”
Times employees writers Lin and Goldberg reported from Pennsylvania, Mejia and Orellana Hernandez from Los Angeles.
