Fri. Nov 22nd, 2024


By Kathryn ArmstrongBBC News

 Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Dept/ Reuters Corey Comperatore Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Dept/ Reuters

Corey Comperatore has been described by friends and family as a “hero”

An attempt to assassinate former US president Donald Trump at a rally in Pennsylvania has left one bystander dead and two seriously injured.

Trump suffered an upper ear injury but was otherwise unharmed, later telling reporters that if he had moved his head slightly, he would have been hit in the head.

Three other men who were attending the rally on 13 July were not so lucky.

Here is what we know about them.

Corey Comperatore

The 50-year-old volunteer fire chief died while trying to protect his family during the attempted assassination – diving onto them to shield them from the bullets.

“Corey died a hero,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro said at a news conference following the shooting, adding that Comperatore went to church every Sunday and “loved his community”.

“Most especially, Corey loved his family,” said Mr Shapiro.

Mr Comperatore’s daughter Allyson later wrote on social media about how her father had thrown her and her mother to the ground and “shielded my body from the bullet that came at us”.

“He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him thank you.”

Allyson described her father as the “best dad a girl could ever ask for” and said he “could talk and make friends with anyone”.

“This feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality,” Mr Comperatore’s sister Dawn wrote on Facebook.

He was said to be an avid Trump supporter and to have been excited to attend the Pennsylvania rally where he was later killed.

According to Pennsylvania police, Mr Comperatore lived in Sarver, about 12 miles (19km) away from the rally site in Butler, outside the city of Pittsburgh.

“He was a man that just wanted to protect and serve and love. He was truly a man of love,” fellow firefighter Craig Cirrincione told the Associated Press.

In addition to his volunteer firefighting work, he was employed as a project and tooling engineer at a plastics manufacturing company, according to his social media profiles.

“He was a good person,” neighbour Matt Achilles told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “We might not have agreed on the same political views, but that didn’t stop him from being a good friend and neighbour.”

“He donated money to us when I was in the hospital and he would always come by at our yard sales. He always waved hello when I drove past his house,” Mr Achilles said.

David Dutch

Mr Dutch is from the Pennsylvania city of New Kensington and is a long-time employee of the technology company Siemens, according to his sister.

Jennifer Veri-Grazier told the New York Times that the 57-year-old suffered damage to his liver and broken ribs in the shooting and has had to have more than one operation.

She described him as a long-time Trump supporter.

“He was exercising his rights and went to the rally, and he didn’t deserve any of this,” Ms Veri-Grazier said.

The Pennsylvania branch of the Marine Corps League, a veterans’ association, has identified Mr Dutch as one of its members on social media.

James Copenhaver

Mr Copenhaver, 74, is from Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and was a registered Democrat, the New York Times reports.

Albert Quaye, a supervisor in Moon Township, told the newspaper that Mr Copenhaver was retired and had become very interested in local politics.

Mr Copenhaver is listed as a member of Moon Township’s Military Banner Committee, which organises tributes for the area’s veterans.




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#Pennsylvania #Trump #rally #victims

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