The man killed at a rally for former President Donald Trump was Corey Comperatore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro announced Sunday.
According to Shapiro, Comperatore was a former fire chief in the area and loved his family.
“Cory died a hero. He rushed in last night to protect his family,” the governor said.
In other news, President Joe Biden was scheduled to address the nation Sunday afternoon after wrapping up his Situation Room briefing on the shooting at a Trump rally.
Trump called for unity and resilience on Sunday as leaders across the political divide were wounded in the shooting but were “OK” and shocked by the deaths of the gunman and rally attendee, shortly after the attempted assassination of him.
The presumptive Republican presidential nominee said the shooting left a puncture wound above his right ear. His aides said he was “in great spirits” and doing well.
“I knew something was wrong because I heard a buzz and a gunshot and immediately felt the bullet rip through my skin,” he wrote on his social media site. “There was a lot of bleeding.”
“Only God could have prevented the unthinkable from happening,” Trump said in a follow-up post on Sunday.
“At this moment, it is more important than ever that we come together, show what it means to be Americans, act strong and decisively, and never let evil triumph,” his post read.
The FBI has identified the shooter as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20, of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, about 50 miles from the shooting. FBI officials said investigators have not yet determined a motive.
Secret Service agents fatally shot Crooks. The gunman struck from an elevated position outside the rally venue at Butler’s Farm Show, the agency said.
Authorities said one attendee was killed and two spectators were seriously injured, all of whom were identified as men.
Law enforcement officials told The Associated Press that bomb-making materials were found inside the vehicle of a man suspected of involvement in the Trump rally shooting. Bomb-making materials were also found in his home. The two officials were not authorized to publicly discuss details of the investigation and spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity.
Investigators believe the gun Crooks used was purchased by his father at least six months ago, law enforcement officials said. Federal agents are still working to understand how and when his son obtained the gun and to gather additional information about Crooks, officials said.
Crooks’ political affiliation wasn’t immediately clear. Records show Crooks is registered as a Republican voter in Pennsylvania, but federal campaign finance reports show he donated $15 to a progressive political action committee on Jan. 20, 2021, the day President Joe Biden was inaugurated.
Authorities told reporters that Crooks was not carrying identification, so they used DNA and other methods to confirm his identity. Law enforcement recovered an AR-style rifle at the scene, according to a person familiar with the case, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the investigation.
The most serious assassination attempt since 1981
The attack was the most serious attempt to kill a president or presidential candidate since Ronald Reagan was shot in 1981. It brought renewed attention to political violence in a deeply polarized America four months before a presidential election, and could set the tone and security posture for the Republican National Convention, which begins Monday in Milwaukee.
Organizers said the event would proceed as planned.
Trump flew to New Jersey after visiting a Pennsylvania-area hospital, landing at Newark Liberty International Airport just after midnight. Video posted by an aide showed the former president disembarking from his private jet with Secret Service agents and armed members of the agency’s counter-attack team, an unusually visible show of force by his security detail.
Biden, who is running against Trump, was briefed on the shooting and spoke with Trump on the phone hours after it happened, the White House said.
“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” the president said. “It’s sick. It’s sick.”
Biden cut short a weekend at his beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, and returned to Washington late Saturday.
Many Republicans blamed the violence on Biden and his allies, arguing that the ongoing attacks on Trump had created a toxic environment that threatened democracy. They pointed specifically to Biden’s July 8 remark to donors that “it’s time to target Trump.”
Officials said the counter-tactical team killed the shooter. The armed tactical team travels with the president and major party candidates everywhere, and is designed to counter any active threats while other Secret Service agents focus on protecting and evacuating the person at the center of protection.
An AP analysis of more than a dozen videos and photos taken at Trump’s rally and satellite images of the area shows that the shooter was able to get surprisingly close to the stage where the former president was speaking.
Video posted to social media and geolocated by the AP shows the body of a person dressed in gray camouflage lying motionless on the roof of a building belonging to AGR International, a manufacturing plant just north of the Butler Farm Showgrounds where the Trump rally was held.
The roof the man was lying on was less than 150 meters (164 yards) from where Trump was speaking, a distance that a decent marksman could hit a man-sized target. For reference, 150 meters is the distance that U.S. Army recruits must hit a man-sized silhouette to qualify with the M-16 rifle. Like the shooter at the Trump rally, the AR-15 is a semi-automatic civilian version of the military M-16.
The range at which Crooks fired and his clothing led to initial speculation that the shooter had military experience. But every military unit that searched records Sunday said they had no record of him serving in the military in response to questions from the AP.
“That’s our assessment at this point,” said Kevin Rozek, the FBI agent in charge of the Pittsburgh field office, at a news conference when asked whether law enforcement knew he was on the roof until the shooters opened fire.
He added that it was “amazing” that the gunman was able to fire on stage before being killed by the Secret Service.
Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas said officials from the department that oversees the Secret Service are working with both the Biden and Trump campaigns and are “taking every possible step to ensure their safety and security.”
Rally interrupted by gunfire
President Trump was showing a chart showing the number of people crossing the border when the shooting began, just after 6:10 p.m.
As the first pop sounded, Trump said, “Oh,” put his hand to his right ear and looked up, then quickly crouched on the ground behind the podium. Those in the audience behind him also crouched as screams echoed through the crowd.
Someone near the microphone could be heard saying, “Get down, get down, get down, get down!” and the agents rushed to the stage. They piled on top of the former president to protect him while other agents took up positions on the stage to search for threats.
After that, a voice saying “shooter down” was heard several times, and someone asked “is it okay to move?” and “are you okay?” Then someone gave the order “let’s move.”
In the footage, Trump is heard saying at least twice, “Let me get your shoes,” while another voice is heard saying, “I got you, sir.”
Trump stood up moments later, his right hand on his face, bloody, and he pumped his fist in the air, mouthing the word “Fight” twice to his supporters, who erupted in loud cheers and chants of “USA. USA. USA.”
His motorcade left the event moments later. Video showed Trump turning to the crowd and raising his fist before getting into his car.
Witnesses heard several gunshots and ducked for cover.
When the shooting started, “everyone got on their knees or got down because we all knew. We all knew that this was a shooting,” said Dave McCormick, a Pennsylvania Republican candidate for Senate who sat on stage to Trump’s right.
McCormick said he saw Trump raise his fist and then looked over his shoulder to see that it was someone sitting in the audience backstage who had been hit.
Eventually, emergency responders were able to move the injured man out of the large crowd and get him medical care, McCormick said.
Reporters covering the rally heard five or six gunshots, and many people sought cover and hid under tables. After the first two or three thumps, people in the crowd appeared startled but not panicked. An AP reporter on the scene reported that at first it sounded like fireworks or a car backfiring.
As the situation calmed down and it became clear that President Trump would not be speaking, attendees began to leave the venue.
Police soon told those remaining to leave the area, with Secret Service agents telling reporters: “Get out now. This is a live crime scene.”
Political Violence Rocks America Again
The dangers of campaigning took on new urgency after the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in California in 1968, and after Arthur Bremer shot and seriously wounded George Wallace, an independent campaigner, in 1972. Wallace was compared to Trump’s campaign platform. That led to increased protections for candidates, but threats persisted, especially against Jesse Jackson in 1988 and Barack Obama in 2008.
Presidential security has been particularly tight since the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, and Trump is unusual in that he is both a former and current president.
Republican Rep. Mike Kelly, who represents the area where the shooting occurred, attended the rally with his wife and grandchildren and was right behind Trump when he was injured. Kelly said he was “dismayed by what has happened to our country and how it has come to this.”
“I just wish people would calm down a little bit,” he said. “Stop blaming and blaming someone. Blaming is somewhere in the American psyche.”
