Corey Comperatore, the man killed during the attempted assassination of former President Donald Trump on Saturday, was a firefighter who died shieldling his family from the sniper’s bullets.
“I just spoke to Corey’s wife and Corey’s two daughters,” Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro told CNN. “Corey was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community. Most especially, Corey loved his family.”
Shapiro added that Comperatore’s wife said that he died a hero and the governor requested that flags be flown at half-staff in Comperatore’s memory.
“He shielded my body from the bullet that came at us,” the victim’s daughter, Allyson Comperatore, wrote on Facebook Sunday. “He loved his family. 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. I want nothing more than to wake up and for this to not be reality for me and my family.”
Comperatore’s sister, Dawn, also posted on Facebook, saying, “He was a hero that shielded his daughters. His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience.”
A GoFundMe page set up to help support Allyson and the Comperatore family had already raised over $270,000 as of Sunday afternoon.
Earlier in the day, the FBI identified the shooter at Trump’s rally as Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old man from Bethel Park, Pa., who it was later discovered also had explosive materials in his car and Pennsylvania home.
Crooks was fatally shot by Secret Service during the incident, which left Comperatore dead and two other rallygoers critically injured, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
Former President Trump was grazed by a bullet on his right ear but not seriously hurt.
