Man killed at Trump rally was former fire chief in Butler County who was protecting family

BUTLER, Pa. – Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday that he has ordered the state’s flags to fly at half mast in honor of the former fire chief killed trying to protect his family when gunfire broke out at a Trump campaign rally Saturday.

The governor, in a news conference held in Butler, asked for prayers for the family of Corey Comperatore as well as for those of the two other spectators critically injured in what officials are investigating as an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump. The GOP candidate was rushed from the stage with blood streaming across his face, but later said he was “fine.”

Shapiro said early Sunday afternoon that he’d spoken with Comperatore’s wife and daughters.

“Corey was a girl-dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday,” the governor said, noting that he’d sought permission from Helen Comperatore to share their conversation. “He was so excited last night to be there with (Trump) and the community.”

He said Helen Comperatore wanted everyone to know that her husband died a hero. “Corey dove on his family to protect them last night at this rally,” he said.

Comperatore was the former chief of the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. Buffalo Township Supervisor Michael Oehling also noted in an email to the Post-Gazette that Comperatore died while “protecting his wife and daughters.”

“He was an amazing man,” he said.

Earlier, in separate social media posts, his family mourned their loss.

“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore,” posted Dawn Comperatore Schafer on Facebook. “The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most.

“He was a hero that shielded his daughters. His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. 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.”

Trump was about 10 minutes into his speech at the Butler Farm Show grounds about 6:15 p.m. when gunfire erupted and he was rushed off stage. The former president, who had a bloody wound around his right ear, later confirmed in statements online that a bullet pierced his ear.

Thousands of supporters had been waiting for the candidate’s appearance, in advance of the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee this week.

Officials later said one rallygoer was killed, and two others were wounded.

The two victims being treated at Allegheny General Hospital have not been identified by officials. Shapiro said he had spoken to one of the families and reached out to the other one, although he declined to say more.

In statements on Facebook, Comperatore’s wife and daughter described a chaotic scene in which he tried to protect his family.

His daughter, Allyson Comperatore, wrote that her father died “a real-life superhero,” who quickly threw her and her mother to the ground when gunfire started at the rally.

“He shielded my body from the bullet that came at us. He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us,” she wrote.

His wife wrote that the rally was meant to be an uplifting event.

“Yesterday, what turned out to be such an exciting day for my husband especially, turned into a nightmare for our family,” Comperatore wrote in a Facebook post. “What my precious girls had to witness is unforgivable. What I had to was.”

“He died the hero he always was.”

In Sunday afternoon remarks, President Joe Biden said he and first lady Jill Biden were praying for the family of Comperatore.

“He was protecting his family from the bullets,” Biden said. “God love him.”

Steven Warheit, who referred to Comperatore as a brother on Facebook, posted that he is “without words.” He said the two would skip school together as kids to hunt and fish. He called their memories “endless.”

“Corey Comperatore was a great man that loved his family fiercely and did the same with god,” he wrote. “A true heart of gold.”

Others also used social media platforms Sunday to honor Comperatore.

“He was a firefighter. Why am I not surprised his instinct was to put his own body in harm’s way?” wrote Bob Bellafiore, a political communications strategist in a post on X.

Comperatore was an engineer at JSP, according to his LinkedIn profile.

FBI Pittsburgh Special Agent in Charge Kevin Rojek offered “sincere condolences to the family of Comperatore, who was a spectator and was killed at the scene as well as the other victims’ families.”

A GoFundMe to support the Comperatore family was set up on Sunday has now raised more than $151,000, skyrocketing above the goal set for $7,000.