Governor says man killed at Trump rally was former fire chief who ‘died a hero’

Shapiro said Comperatore was a former fire chief from the area and loved his family.

“Corey died a hero,” the governor said. “Corey dived over his family to protect them last night.”

In other developments, President Joe Biden plans to address the nation Sunday afternoon after a briefing in the Situation Room on the shooting at the Trump rally.

In the wake of an apparent attempt to kill him, Trump on Sunday called for unity and resilience, as shocked leaders across the political divide recoiled in shock at the shooting that left him wounded but “okay” and the gunman and a rally participant dead.

The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said he was shot in the upper part of his right ear. Aides said he was in “great spirits” and in good health.

“I immediately knew something was wrong, I heard a whistle and gunshots, I immediately felt the bullet pierce my skin, I started bleeding profusely,” he wrote on his social media site.

In a later post on Sunday, Trump said, “Only God could prevent the unthinkable from happening.”

“In this moment, it is more important than ever that we stand united, show our true character as Americans, remain strong and determined, and do not let evil win,” his post read.

The FBI has identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from the shooting. An FBI official said investigators have not yet determined a motive.

Secret Service agents shot and killed Crooks. The agency said the gunman attacked from a high perch outside the gathering place at an agricultural fair in Butler.

One person was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, authorities said. All of the victims were identified as men.

Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that bomb-making materials were found inside the car of the man suspected of shooting at the Trump rally. Bomb-making materials were also found at his home. The officials were not authorized to discuss details of the investigation publicly and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.

Law enforcement officials said investigators believe the gun Crooks used was purchased by his father at least six months ago. Federal agents are still working to understand when and how his son obtained the weapon and to gather additional information about Crooks, the officials said.

Crooks’ political leanings were not immediately clear. Records show Crooks was registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports also show he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was sworn into office.

Authorities told reporters that Crooks did not have identification, so they used DNA and other methods to confirm his identity. Law enforcement found an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a person familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.

The most dangerous assassination attempt since 1981

The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since the assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981. It has drawn renewed attention to concerns about political violence in a deeply polarized United States less than four months before the presidential election. The attack could change the tone and security posture of the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.

Organizers said the conference would go on as planned.

Trump arrived in New Jersey after visiting a local hospital in Pennsylvania, landing shortly after midnight at Newark Liberty International Airport. Video posted by an aide showed the former president stepping off his private jet surrounded by Secret Service agents and heavily armed members of the agency’s counter-assault team, in an unusual show of force by his security detail.

The White House said Biden, who is challenging Trump, was briefed on the attack and spoke to Trump several hours after the shooting.

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence. It is disgusting,” the president said.

Biden cut short a weekend at his beach home in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, late Saturday to return to Washington.

Many Republicans were quick to blame Biden and his allies for the violence, claiming that the ongoing attacks on Trump as a threat to democracy had created a toxic environment. They pointed in particular to a comment Biden made to donors on July 8, saying “it’s time to put Trump in the bull’s eye.”

The counterattack team killed the shooter, officials said. The heavily armed tactical team travels everywhere with the president and major party candidates and is supposed to respond to any active threats while other Secret Service agents focus on protecting and evacuating the person in the protective center.

An Associated Press analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos from the Trump rally site, as well as satellite images of the site, shows the shooter was able to get surprisingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking.

A video posted on social media and located by The Associated Press shows the body of a person in gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a building at AGR International, a factory north of the Butler Farm Show grounds where Trump’s rally was held.

The surface the person was lying on was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance from which a decent sniper could hit a human-sized target. For context, 150 meters is the distance at which U.S. Army recruits must hit a human-sized silhouette to be able to use an M-16 rifle. The AR-15, like the shooter at Trump’s rally, is the civilian, semi-automatic version of the military’s M-16.

The range from which Crooks fired and his clothing had raised early speculation that the shooter had military experience. However, all branches of the military searched their records Sunday and said in response to an inquiry from The Associated Press that they had no records indicating he had served in the military.

Asked at a news conference if law enforcement did not know the shooter was on the roof until he started shooting, Kevin Rogic, the FBI agent in charge in Pittsburgh, said, “That’s our assessment at this time.”

He added that it was “amazing” that the gunman was able to open fire on the stage before being killed by Secret Service agents.

Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, whose department oversees the Secret Service, said the officials were involved with both the Biden and Trump campaigns and “took every possible action to ensure their safety and security.”

Demonstration disrupted by gunfire

Trump was showing a chart of border crossing numbers when the shooting began just after 6:10 p.m.

When we heard the first sound, Trump said, “Oh,” and raised his hand to his right ear and looked at it, before quickly kneeling on the ground behind his podium. The people sitting behind him also knelt as screams rose from the crowd.

A person near the microphone was heard saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” as agents rushed to the podium. They gathered above the former president to shield him with their bodies, while other agents took positions on the podium to look for the threat.

Then I heard voices saying, “The shooter is down,” several times, before someone asked, “Are we ready to move?” and “Are we safe?” and then someone ordered, “Let’s move.”

Trump can be heard in the video saying at least twice, “Let me get my shoes,” with another voice heard saying, “I got you, sir.”

Moments later, Trump rose to his feet and was seen extending his right hand toward his bloodied face. He then raised his fist in the air and appeared to say the word “fight” twice to the crowd of his supporters, prompting loud cheers and then chants of “USA. USA. USA.”

His motorcade left the scene moments later. Video showed Trump turning to the crowd and raising his fist before being bundled into a car.

Eyewitnesses heard multiple gunshots and took cover.

“When the shooting started, everybody got on their knees or on their stomachs, because we all knew it,” said Dave McCormick, a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate in Pennsylvania, who was sitting to Trump’s right on the podium. “Everyone was aware of the fact that this was a shooting.”

McCormick said that when he saw Trump raise his fist, he looked over his shoulder and noticed that someone had been beaten while sitting in the stands behind the stage.

Eventually, first responders were able to carry the injured person out of the crowd so he could get medical care, McCormick said.

Reporters covering the demonstration heard five or six gunshots, and many people tried to hide under tables. After the first two or three shots, people in the crowd appeared stunned but not panicked. An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the sound at first sounded like fireworks or perhaps a car shooting.

When it became clear that the situation was contained and that Trump would not return to speak, attendees began to file out.

Police quickly ordered the remaining people to leave the scene, and Secret Service agents told reporters to “get out now. This is a live crime scene.”

Political Violence Shakes America Again

Campaign risks took on new importance after the assassination of Robert Kennedy in California in 1968, and again in 1972 when Arthur Bremer shot and critically wounded George Wallace, who was running as an independent on a platform sometimes compared to Trump’s. This led to increased protection for candidates, even as threats continued, most notably against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.

Presidents, especially after the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, have greater layers of security, and Trump is a rare case, whether as a former president or a current candidate.

Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the district where the shooting occurred, attended the rally with his wife and grandchildren and was directly behind Trump when he was shot. Kelly said he was “in a state of confusion about how and what happened to the United States of America.”

“I just wish people would ease up, stop trying to find somebody and blame them. The blame lies somewhere in the American psyche.”