NewsNation

Trump rally shooting: What we know about the victims

(NEXSTAR) – An apparent attempt on former President Donald Trump’s life Saturday took the life of a rally attendee and critically injured two others.

All three shooting victims were identified as adult men. The man who was killed was identified by Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro as Corey Comperatore.


Comperatore was a former fire chief from the area who loved his family, Shapiro said.

At least two other people were injured during the attempt to kill Trump at Saturday’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. Those two have been identified as David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, according to the Pennsylvania State Police. Both were listed in stable condition as of Sunday.

According to witnesses who were at the Butler, Pennsylvania, rally, Comperatore may have been shot in the head.

Rico Elmore, vice chairman of the Beaver County Republican Party, was facing Trump when shots rang out. When he heard someone from his left calling for a medic, he jumped into action. Elmore knows first aid and CPR from his time in the military.

He took off his tie and jumped a barricade, but when he reached the person, Elmore saw he had been shot in the head. Elmore said he held the victim’s head but it was too late. The man was unresponsive.

Witnesses report that at least one of the people shot had been in the bleachers behind Trump.

“In the bleachers right ahead of me, a man got a gunshot wound and was killed instantaneously,” rally attendee Joseph Meyn told NewsNation. “It was a direct hit. His body immediately fell into the bleachers.”

Dave McCormick, the Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, was sitting to Trump’s right on stage. He said after everyone ducked, and as Trump was being rushed off stage by Secret Service agents, he looked over his shoulder to see someone had been hit.

First responders were able to carry the injured person out of a large crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.

Trump was also rushed to the hospital following the shooting, but his injuries appeared to be minor. He said Saturday night he “felt the bullet ripping through the skin” as it whizzed by his face. He could be seen leaving the rally with a bloody ear.

Despite the injury, the former president is doing “fine,” his campaign team said.

The shooter, identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crook, was shot and killed by Secret Service agents returning fire, officials said.

The shooting is being investigated as an assassination attempt.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.