BUFFALO COUNTY, Pa. — When an attempted assassin shot former President Donald Trump on Saturday evening, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore rushed to shield his family from the line of fire.
This will be Comperatore’s final heroic act, but rural Butler County firefighters who knew him say they’re not surprised by their father’s selfless act.
“His two daughters and his wife were everything to him,” Kip Johnston, fire chief for the Buffalo Township Fire Department and a 43-year veteran, told the Post. “… I couldn’t ask for more. [firefighter].”
Comperatore served as head of the volunteer organization for several years in the early 2000s, but then scaled back his role to focus on his family.
He continued to be an active firefighter and member of the community until his tragic death at the Butler Farm Show.
“He was the type of guy that you wanted to go to a fire with because you knew when there was a fire you could be there with him,” said Randy Reamer, a 15-year veteran of the fire department. “When things got tough, you could be there with him.”
Johnston and Reimer said Comperatore had always been vocal about his conservative political views but never antagonized people who disagreed.
“You are his [political] “If he accepted his position, that’s fine. If he didn’t, that’s fine. He didn’t care,” Reimer said.
When asked by The Washington Post about his “favorite Corey story,” Johnston replied, “That’s off the record!” He said he and Corey had many fun times together.
Johnston said Comperatore was “a great leader, a great family man and a great friend.”
The chief’s wife, Lee Johnston, was a teacher at the nearby Buffalo Elementary School, where Comperatore’s two daughters attended while she was there. Although she was not in their class, she spoke fondly of the entire family.
“We’ve developed very close relationships both within the fire department and outside of it,” Mrs. Johnston said. “Their families are all just really sweet people.”
On Sunday, the American flag outside the fire station was lowered to half-staff in Comperatore’s memory.
Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also called Comperatore a local hero and ordered flags across the state to be flown at half-staff in his honor.
