The spectator killed at Donald Trump’s Pennsylvania campaign event has been identified as 50-year-old Corey Comperatore by his relatives.
“Yesterday time stopped,” his daughter, Allyson Comperatore, wrote in a since removed social media post. She called him a “real-life superhero”, and said he “quickly threw” her and her mother to the ground and “shielded my body from the bullet that came at us”.
She wrote: “He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. We lost a selfless, loving husband, father, brother, uncle, son, and friend. And I will never stop thinking about him and mourning over him until the day that I die too. July 13th will forever be a day that changed my life. I will never be the same person I was less than 24 hours ago.”
Authorities announced one spectator had died on Saturday evening. Mr Comperatore leaves behind a wife and two daughters, Pennsylvania governor Josh Shapiro said on Sunday afternoon.
He loved his community and his family, the governor said. “Corey was an avid supporter of the former president. He was so excited to be there last night with the community. Corey died a hero. Corey dived on his family to protect them last night. Corey was the very best of us.”
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“The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore,” Dawn Comperatore Schafer wrote on Facebook on Sunday morning.
She said her younger brother had just turned 50, and posted a photo of him with her family holding up 5 and 0 balloons.
“The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most. He was a hero that shielded his daughters. His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable,” she said. “Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality.”
The shooting also injured two other spectators, who have not been identified.
Mr Comperatore was a fire chief but had recently retired, WPXI reported. He was a project and tooling engineer at the JSP company and lived in Sarver, Pennsylvania, according to his social media profiles.
lThe shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, was killed by authorities. He reportedly used an AR-15-type semi-automatic rifle in the attack.
The former president has said he is “fine”, and thanked God for preventing the “unthinkable from happening”.
About 15 minutes into Trump’s rally, multiple shots ripped through the venue, prompting the candidate to drop behind his podium.
Secret Service agents rushed to the stage and helped Trump to his feet. The former president defiantly pumped his fist in the air, revealing a trail of blood on his face, before being rushed off the stage.
A GoFundMe page has been set up for Mr Comperatore’s daughter Allyson. It had raised more than $70,000 as of Sunday afternoon.
Kind words about the shooting victim have poured in on social media.
“I am without words today,” one user wrote in a Facebook post. “The loss of a brother runs very deep and I can only imagine how the rest of the family is feeling.
“From us skipping school to go hunting or fishing to scratching for change for gas money the memories are endless. Corey Comperatore was a great man that loved his family fiercely and did the same with God. A true heart of gold and he caught small fish too!! God speed brother! We will meet again soon.”
Another wrote: “He is a true warrior. An amazing father. One of the best manicured lawns in the Sarver valley. RIP.”