PITTSBURGH – It has been one year since a tragic event at a Butler, Pennsylvania rally where a failed assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump resulted in the death of one man and severe injuries to two others.
James Copenhaver, David Dutch, and the family of the late Corey Comperatore are still seeking answers about the events of July 13, 2024, a date that altered their lives permanently.
“You didn’t hit Trump, but you struck my dear brother,” shared Dawn Comperatore Schafer, sister of Comperatore, with Fox News Digital regarding gunman Thomas Crooks, who was killed when police returned fire at the rally. “That day, it was not Donald Trump who was targeted, but my brother, Corey Comperatore. The bullet found its mark.”
Comperatore, 50, was the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company, a husband, and a father to two daughters.
Trump supporters are seen covered with blood in the stands after guns were fired at Republican candidate Donald Trump. (Rebecca Droke/AFP via Getty Images)
“He did this less than six seconds after shots began… at a distance of approximately 110 yards,” Lenz said.
A Secret Service counter sniper then fired the fatal shot that neutralized Crooks on the roof of the AGR building, where he was perched with a direct line of sight to Trump.
A graphic representation of the position of the sniper team in relation to the would-be assassin at the Trump rally in Butler, PA on July 13, 2024. (Fox News)
Witnesses largely suggested that the Secret Service’s lack of direction given to local agencies ultimately led to the security failures that allowed 20-year-old Crooks to position himself on a nearby rooftop and fire at the former president. Former Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned on July 23, 2024.
On the day of the rally, Crooks parked his vehicle and flew a drone between approximately 3:50 p.m. and 4 p.m. about 200 yards from where the former president would be speaking. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified during a July 17 congressional hearing that Crooks had been at the rally site for about 70 minutes the morning of the assassination attempt.
Investigators located eight casings on the roof where Crooks fired from.
