PITTSBURGH — Hundreds lined the streets of Freeport on Friday to pay respects to a firefighter who was killed while attending a rally for former President Donald Trump.
Buffalo Township firefighters dressed in bright white shirts and navy pants filled the Cabot Methodist Church as mourners filed in to remember Corey Comperatore, 50, who was gunned down on Saturday at the Butler Farm Show fairgrounds.
“It’s sad knowing that it’s somebody local…changed his life, his family’s life forever,” said Danny Krajacic, 70, of Cabot. “Certainly this community never expected anything like this.”
A towering American flag hung from a fire truck ladder across Winfield Road, and police officers escorted family, friends and former coworkers of Comperatore across the church parking lot.
Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump pays his respects to the helmet and firefighter jacket that belonged to Corey Comperatore who lost his life Saturday in Butler as he accepted the Republican nomination for President of the United States on Thursday, July 18, 2024, during the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Michael Drane, 66, of Cabot, said that he was glad to see the outpouring of people showing their support for Comperatore’s family.
“It’s devastating, heartbreaking…I feel bad for him and his family,” Drane said. “Driving past his house I always saw him out in his yard with his dogs. It’s close to home but it could’ve happened anywhere else in this country.”
Comperatore was shot when Thomas Crooks, 20, tried to assassinate former president Trump. Also injured were David Dutch, 57, of Plum, and James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon. Both wounded men are recovering at Allegheny General Hospital on the North Side. Their conditions were upgraded Wednesday from critical to serious.
Crooks was fatally shot by a Secret Service agent.
Comperatore’s wife, Helen, and two daughters, Allyson and Kaylee, wrote in social media posts on Sunday that he sacrificed his life to protect them.
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