Corey Comperatore, firefighter killed at Trump rally, sacrificed himself to shield wife and daughters from bullets

The man who died this Saturday at former President Donald Trump's campaign rally in Pennsylvania was identified as Corey Comperatore, a 50-year-old former firefighter who risked his life to protect his wife and daughters from bullets.

Comperatore, who was serving as Buffalo Township fire chief, was shot and killed by Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, at the rally that left Trump and two other people injured, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said Sunday.

The governor indicated that Comperatore was an effusive Trump supporter and was happy to attend the rally Saturday in Butler, along with his wife and two daughters, whom he protected by lunging at them once he heard the gunshots.

“Corey died a hero,” Shapiro said, adding that he was a “father” who went to church every Sunday and loved his family and community.

The victim’s sister, Dawn Comperatore Schafer, wrote on Facebook that Corey died while trying to protect her family from gunfire during the former president's speech.

“Hatred towards a man took the life of the man we loved most. (…) His wife and daughters experienced the unthinkable and unimaginable,” he wrote. 

“My little brother had just turned 50 and had a long way to live. Hate has no limits and love has no boundaries. Please pray for my sister-in-law, my nieces, my mother, my sister, for me and for his nephews and nieces , because this seems like a terrible nightmare, but we know that it is our painful reality,” the sister added, accompanying the writing with a photograph of Corey celebrating his 50th birthday.

His daughter, Allyson Comperatore, also took to Facebook to share her loss and shared an emotional message.

“Yesterday time stopped. And when it started again, my family and I began to live a real nightmare, ” he wrote. “He was the best father a girl could ask for.”

Allyson said that when the shots were heard, her father quickly threw them to the ground to protect them from the gunshots.

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

A GoFundMe page has been created to support the Comperatore family with expenses. By this Sunday, almost $850,000 had already been raised.

The suspect Thomas Matthew Crooks, a resident of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, used an AR-15 type rifle and fired eight shots at a distance of between 200 and 300 meters from the podium where Trump was speaking, before being shot dead by Secret Service agents.

This Sunday, the New York Post reported that the investigation into Trump's assassination attempt had to be delayed by improvised explosives placed on Crooks' property.

Senior law enforcement sources with direct knowledge of the search confirmed that explosives were found in the suspect's vehicle that were of “varying” levels of sophistication, although it is unclear exactly what they were made of.

Nearly $3.7 million has been raised on a GoFundMe page for victims of the Trump rally shooting. The largest donation was $50,000.

“All donations will be directed to these proud Americans as they grieve and recover. May God bless and unite our nation,” the page says.