The victim of a deadly shooting at a Trump campaign rally was eager to hear the former president speak.
In his final heartbreaking post on X, Corey Comperatore responded to the popular Catturd account, which asked, “So what’s everyone getting into this weekend?”
“Trump rally!” Comperatore, 50, responded excitedly. “Butler, PA.”
It was at that Saturday night demonstration that Comperatore died a hero as he shielded his young daughter and wife from gunfire when he was killed by 20-year-old gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Other Trump supporters rushed to his aid in the stands moments after Crooks opened fire from a rooftop 130 yards away.
Corey Comperatore, 50, was eager to hear former President Donald Trump speak at a rally Saturday night.
In response to the Catturd X account asking what everyone’s plans were for the weekend, Comperatore enthusiastically replied: “Trump rally.”
Grieving family members announced Comperatore’s untimely death on Sunday, as they paid tribute to the former volunteer firefighter.
His sister wrote on Facebook: ‘The Trump rally in Pennsylvania took the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. Hatred towards one man took the life of the man we loved most. He was a hero who protected his daughters.
“His wife and daughters experienced the unthinkable and unimaginable. My younger brother just turned 50 and he still has a lot of life left to live,” he continued.
“Hate has no limits and love has no borders. Please pray for my sister-in-law, my nieces, my mother, my sister, for me and for her nephews and nieces, because this seems like a terrible nightmare, but we know that it is our painful reality.”
Comperatore’s daughter Allyson also wrote: “He died like a real-life superhero.”
Comperatore was described Sunday as a “father of girls” and a former volunteer firefighter who had just turned 50.
“They’re not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and me to the ground. They’re not going to tell you that he protected me from the bullet.”
“He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a bullet for us,” she continued in her emotional tribute.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also hailed Comperatore as a hero for throwing himself on his family’s shoulders to shield them from the hail of bullets.
“Corey threw himself at his family to protect them last night, he died a hero, he was the best of us,” the governor said at a news conference Sunday afternoon, adding that the father of two called himself a “dad of girls” and a firefighter.
“Corey went to church every Sunday because he loved his community. And most of all, Corey loves his family. Corey was a fervent supporter of the former president and he was very excited to be there last night with him in the community,” the governor said Sunday.
“I asked Corey’s wife if it was okay if I shared what we talked about. She said yes. She also asked me to tell all of you that Corey died a hero.”
The father of two jumped over his wife and daughter to protect them from the gunfire.
Crowd members in Butler, Pennsylvania, rushed to his aid after the shooting.
“This is a moment when all leaders have a responsibility to speak and act with moral clarity,” he continued.
“All leaders must lower the temperature and rise above the hateful rhetoric that exists in pursuit of a better, brighter future for this nation.”
An emergency room doctor who attended Donald Trump’s rally has revealed how he performed CPR on Comperatore after he was hit by a bullet intended for the former president.
“I heard the gunshots. At first I thought they were firecrackers. Someone there was yelling, ‘He’s been shot, he’s been shot,'” said the man wearing a blood-spattered white U.S. T-shirt. “So I went over and told them I was an emergency doctor. Let me help you.”
“The guy turned around and got caught between the benches and got shot in the head,” he told CBS News.
“I gathered him together and got people to help me a lot. I also did chest compressions and CPR.”
But the 50-year-old man was later declared dead.
Trump was also shot in the right ear by Crooks, who opened fire with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop 130 yards from the MAGA event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
He was escorted off stage by Secret Service agents after being shot.
Trump was also shot in the right ear by Crooks, who opened fire with an AR-style rifle from a rooftop 130 yards from the MAGA event in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The former president was seen clutching his head and crouching as screams from terrified onlookers ran out.
He then stood up, clenched his fist and shouted “fight, fight, fight” as the Secret Service quickly carried him off the stage and into a motorcade.
Crooks is a registered Republican who also donated money to President Biden in 2023. He graduated from high school in 2022.
Images of Crooks wearing glasses, braces and an American flag T-shirt in a yearbook appeared Sunday morning, hours after he tried to eliminate the presumptive Republican nominee, killing Comperatore and seriously wounding two others.
The shooter has been identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Crooks’ uncle, Mark Crooks, told DailyMail.com he had not seen the gunman or his parents in years and described them as “very private”.
“I haven’t seen that part of my family in years,” she said. “Honestly, it’s been so long that I don’t think about them much.”
“It’s a shame. The child is like a stranger to me. They are reserved and do not communicate with anyone at any time.”
The Bethel Park School District, where Crooks was a student until two years ago, verified his graduation and pledged full cooperation with investigators.
Records show he donated to a group that supported President Joe Biden on Inauguration Day in 2020.
Following the shooting, Trump issued a statement thanking the Secret Service for its “quick response” and offering his condolences to Comperatore.
Following the attack, Trump posted a statement on Truth Social confirming that he had been hit by a bullet, while thanking the Secret Service and law enforcement for their “quick response to the shooting that just occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania.”
The former president also confirmed that one protester died and another was “seriously injured.”
‘Most importantly, I want to express my condolences to the family of the person who died in the demonstration, and also to the family of another person who was seriously injured.’
“It is unbelievable that such an act could happen in our country. Nothing is known at this time about the shooter, who is now dead. I was shot with a bullet that went through the top of my right ear,” the former president said.
‘I knew immediately something was wrong because I heard a whistling sound, gunshots, and immediately felt the bullet go through my skin. There was a lot of bleeding so I realized what was happening. GOD BLESS AMERICA!’
