The Trump supporter who was murdered by would-be presidential assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks has been identified as former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore.
A native of Sarver, Pennsylvania, Comperatore is survived by his wife, daughter, mother, and sisters.
Members of the crowd tried to save the devoted family man’s life in the bleachers after Crooks opened fire from a rooftop located a little more than 100 yards away. “I heard the shots. I thought it was firecrackers to begin with,” said an emergency room doctor who was sitting not far from Comperatore. “Somebody over there was screaming, ‘he’s been shot, he’s been shot.’ So I made my way over. I said, I’m an emergency department physician.”
“The guy had spun around was jammed between the benches and a head shot here. There’s lots of blood and he had brain matter,” he told CBS News. The emergency room physician added that he did CPR and chest compressions until the victim was taken away on a stretcher.
Comperatore’s last act on earth was shielding was daughter from incoming gunfire.
“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. 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,” his sister, Dawn, wrote in a Facebook Post.
“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most.”
Comperatore’s daughter, Allyson, also paid tribute to her father in a touching Facebook post. “He was the best dad a girl could ever ask for. My sister and I never needed for anything. You call, he would answer, and he would do whatever it is you needed, and if he didn’t know you, he would figure out how,” she wrote.
“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 for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him thank you.”
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro described Corey Comperatore as a hero and ordered all flags in Pennsylvania to be flown at half-staff in order to honor his memory.
“Last night was shocking for this community and for this commonwealth, and I know for this country. 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,” Shapiro told reporters.
“But we need to make sure that Corey’s memory is forever a blessing and here in Pennsylvania, we will see to it that that is the case.”
