By Brooke Mallory, OAN Staff
Thursday, July 18, 2024 6:46 PM
Hundreds of people gathered Saturday to mourn a former fire chief who was shot and killed as a bystander at a weekend rally for former President Donald Trump, as the rural Pennsylvania community tries to recover from the trauma of the attempted assassination of President Trump.
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The first of two public events planned to honor and celebrate the life of Corey Comperatore, 50, took place Wednesday. The second event, a meet and greet with friends, was scheduled for Thursday at Laube Hall in Freeport.
Outside the Learnerville Speedway in Thurber, where the vigil was held, a sign bearing the Comperatore Fire Department logo read, “Rest in Peace Corey. Thank you for all your service.”
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the Comperatore family,” read a sign outside a nearby credit union.
According to his obituary, Comperatore was a former project and tools engineer, an Army Reserve officer and a longtime volunteer firefighter, having served as fire chief.
In the attempted assassination of Trump at a Butler rally on Saturday, Trump was shot and later died. Police also told reporters that Comperatore spent his final minutes shielding his wife and daughter from the gunfire.
Organizer Kelly McCollough said the purpose of the rally was to show the public that it was not political in any way and that only love and support for the Comperatore family was allowed.
Police said Comperatore spent his final minutes trying to shield his wife and daughter from the gunfire.
Organizer Kelly McCollough said the goal of the rally was to show the public that it was not political in any way and that the rally’s only message was one of “love and support” for the Comperatore family.
“Tonight is about unity,” McCaul said, repeating President Trump’s previous comments about American unity. “We need each other. We need to feel love. We need to feel safe. We need clarity in this chaos. We need strength. We need healing.”
Mourner Dan Ritter said he bought the victim’s childhood home and shared the same values as the victim on faith, family and politics.
“Corey loved his family and was always there for them,” Ritter said. “Last Saturday was meant to be that day for him. He did what any good father would do — he protected the people he loved. He’s a true hero to all of us.”
“What made Corey truly special was his indomitable spirit, unyielding courage and unwavering optimism,” Comperatore’s former teacher, Mark Wyant, said in a statement read by Heidi Powell, a close family friend of Comperatore’s.
The vigil ended with Comperatore’s favorite song, “I Can Only Imagine” by Christian rock group MercyMe, playing as the crowd lit candles and waved glow sticks, lighters and cellphones in the air and images of him and his family were projected on a screen.
Meanwhile, the other bystander victims, James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, and David Duch, 57, of New Kensington, were also wounded during the shooting and were listed in serious but stable condition as of Wednesday evening, according to a representative from Allegheny Health Network.
Trump called the victim’s family after the assassination attempt.
“he [Trump] “He was very kind and said he would continue to call me in the coming days and weeks,” Helen Comperatore said.
“I told him the same thing I told everyone else: he left this world a hero and God welcomed him back. His death that day was not in vain,” she added.
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