Biography
Corey Comperatore was a spectator at Donald Trump’s campaign rally at Butler, Pennsylvania, on 13 July 2024, and was killed there.
What the Congressional Record Establishes
The House Task Force convened to investigate the attempt records the sequence plainly. A gunman fired at Trump, then a former president campaigning to return to office, during the event. The bullets “tragically claimed the life of an attendee, Corey Comperatore, and gravely wounded attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver.” A Secret Service counter-sniper and a Butler County Emergency Services Unit operator returned fire and killed the shooter. Trump, grazed on the right ear, dropped to the stage and was extracted with non-life-threatening injuries.
The FBI’s reconstruction, as the report summarizes it, identified six bullet trajectories and 35 places of impact, with no impacts at the podium where Trump spoke or at the bleacher area where Comperatore was standing.
The Task Force’s conclusion was that the Secret Service and its law enforcement partners failed in the planning, execution and leadership of the event’s security.
Relevance to This Site
Comperatore is on this site as a private citizen who was killed at a political event, not as a participant in political media. His name entered national circulation entirely through others’ accounts of that day. This page therefore restricts itself to what the congressional record states, and does not reproduce the biographical and family detail that circulated afterwards.
What Is Not Established Here
Removed in the citation audit: his birth year; his service as a volunteer firefighter and former fire chief in Buffalo Township; his attendance at the rally with his family and the account that he shielded them; the shooter’s name and age; and the characterization of the event as prompting “widespread scrutiny” of Secret Service protocols — the Task Force report’s own findings of failure are cited instead. None of the removed detail appears in the report; some of it is likely accurate and is documented in sources that were not read in this pass.
Sources
- 01.
U.S. House of Representatives, Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump. Final Report of Findings and Recommendations of the Task Force on the Attempted Assassination of Donald J. Trump (H. Rept. 118-873). (2024). The Task Force's own final report, issued 5 December 2024 by Chairman Mike Kelly and Ranking Member Jason Crow. Source for: the attempt on Trump's life at a campaign event in Butler, Pennsylvania on 13 July 2024; the bullets claiming the life of attendee Corey Comperatore and gravely wounding attendees David Dutch and James Copenhaver; a Secret Service counter-sniper and a Butler County Emergency Services Unit operator returning fire and eliminating the shooter; Trump feeling a bullet graze his right ear, dropping to the stage and escaping with non-life-threatening injuries; the FBI's identification of six bullet trajectories with 35 places of impact, with no impacts at the podium or at the bleacher area where Comperatore was standing; and the report's finding of failures in the planning, execution and leadership of the Secret Service and its partners.