Rochester, Pennsylvania – A speaker wounded by a bullet from an assassination attempt at President Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania spoke out Monday after treating a protester who died from a gunshot wound to the head.
Rico Elmore, a hydraulic mechanic with the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 171st Air Refueling Wing, said he was sitting in the VIP area of the rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, when gunfire rang out.
Elmore, who was sitting near Republican Senate candidate David McCormick, former House candidate Sean Parnell and Slippery Rock Mayor Johndavid Longo, had just returned to his seat when he heard what sounded like firecrackers.
“Me, Sean Parnell and J.D. Longo, having been in the military, we immediately knew, ‘something’s going on,'” said Elmore, who also serves as vice chairman of the Beaver County Republican Committee.
Trump wants to attend Republican National Convention despite assassination attempt
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump raises his fist as he is hurriedly escorted off the stage during a rally on July 13, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
“So we were looking around and we were trying to search the place and then we heard it again and we just started yelling, ‘Everybody get down.'”
Elmore said she saw Secret Service agents swarming over Trump to protect him and then noticed rally attendees calling for medical staff.
Elmore ran over the barricade, found Corey Comperatore shot in the head, and helped treat him.
While those in attendance hailed him as a hero, Elmore said the real hero was the doctor who performed CPR on Comperatore, who later died from his injuries.
“People perceived me as important. I’m just a regular guy who wants to be there and goes to events and speaks there, but people don’t perceive that as that. So I took it on and said, ‘Everybody stand up, stand up, stand up,'” he recalled.
Drone footage shows police investigating a shooting at a campaign rally for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump on July 14, 2024 in Butler, Pennsylvania. (Carlos Osorio/Reuters)
Realizing the severity of Comperatore’s wounds, he covered his head with a towel.
“So no one needed to see that horrific scene,” he said, praising federal, state and local law enforcement for quickly responding to the threat and ensuring the safety of other rallygoers.
“Whether you’re for or against the police, the police did a great job that day of protecting people and getting people out, so I commend them. There’s a lot of people to thank for this, but we started directing people through the crowd, so it got to a point where myself and other people, along with J.D. Longo and Sean Parnell, were moving people out of danger,” he said.
Elmore spoke about the national unity he has seen since the assassination attempt on President Trump.
“I believe there will be a sense of unity across all political parties, whether Democrats, Republicans or any other party, because there is a growing recognition that this can happen, this can happen anywhere,” he said.
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Beaver County Republican Party Vice Chair Rico Elmore speaks to Fox News in Rochester, Pennsylvania. (Charles Kreitz/Fox News Digital)
“If you go out there, someone could do something like this. If you’re at a rally, someone could do something like this based on their political viewpoint or opinion.”
He added that it was not the rifle used by the suspect, but rather the person who made the decision to open fire on Trump and the rally attendees.
In his home county of Beaver, which borders Butler County, he added that the community continues to pray for the families of all the victims and that grief counselors are available in the area for anyone who needs help.
“I just hope that during this horrific experience, this horrific time, we can come together for our people, for our community. The division and infighting has to stop,” Elmore said. “If we don’t, more lives will be taken for no reason, and that has to stop.”
