The shooter who tried to kill President Donald Trump killed Corey Comperatore, a firefighter.
The shooter also injured David Dutch, 57, and James Copenhaver, 74. Both have gone home from the hospital.
Comperatore threw himself on his wife and daughters to save their lives.
Helen, Comperatore’s widow, and their daughters Allyson and Kaylee spoke to WTAE-Philadelphia about their loss.
Helen boasted about Trump displaying Comperatore’s firefighting gear at the RNC:
Corey Comperatore’s firefighter gear was displayed at the Republican National Convention.”That was a big honor. I’ll tell you why,” Helen said. “All day at the rally, my husband kept kept saying, ‘He’s going to call me up on stage, you’re going to hear him, he’s going to say Corey, get up here.’ He was just joking, obviously, but he kept saying that — ‘He’s going to call me up on stage’ — and we were all like, there’s his moment. He’s up on stage. He got his moment on stage.”People across the country have sent their support and prayers. There are prayer shawls, a cross, wind chimes and so many cards. A GoFundMe has raised millions of dollars for the family.
The family wants to use the money to start a foundation in Corey’s name.
Helen and Corey met as children but didn’t date until sophomore year. They were married for 29 years:
“He was just a wonderful man, and I want everybody to try not to remember him as the man that was shot at the rally,” Helen Comperatore said. “Just try to remember Corey as, he was a great man that was a great father. He was a great husband.”Helen and Corey married 29 years ago. They were childhood sweethearts who started dating as sophomores in high school.”It was Valentine’s Day. Corey showed up at my house with a dozen red roses,” Helen said. “I said, ‘Does this mean we’re dating?’ And he said, ‘Yes, I think so,’ and I said, ‘OK.'”
Helen described her husband as a hero, a man who sacrificed his life for his family:
“He definitely was a hero,” said Comperatore’s widow, Helen. “He saved his wife, he saved his child and he was just the best guy. He was just the best.”—They eventually married and had two daughters, Allyson and Kaylee, who were also at the rally with their parents. They said their father was thrilled at going to see Trump in person for the first time. When shots were fired, Corey yelled for them to get down and, as he pushed Allyson out of the way, a bullet struck him.”I was the one that my dad threw down. As he was throwing me down, that was when he was shot and he ended up falling onto me,” Allyson said. “I don’t remember hearing any other shots. I don’t remember feeling any other shots. In that moment, I was trying to take care of him.”I was really confused when he was on me. I had turned around, and I went, ‘Dad,’ and when I turned is whenever he fell down, and that’s when I started screaming and instantly I was trying to keep him from bleeding.””I started screaming, but in my head, I kept saying, ‘Wake up,’ like this is a dream,” Kaylee said. “And then you realize it’s not a dream, and you feel like your whole world is just over.”
The Comperatore family wants answers. The failures of the Secret Service keep piling up.
Helen and their daughters won’t give up until they get answers. Helen even hired a lawyer:
“I talk to him anyway, and the only thing that ever comes out of my mouth is, ‘I’m sorry that this happened to you,'” Helen said. “But I know he would want me to get to the bottom of this. I know he would.”To get answers about what happened, Helen Comperatore has hired an attorney.”I want justice for my husband, and I’m going to get it,” she said.They specifically want answers from security at the rally.”I just want them to know that I really think my dad’s blood is on their hands, and I hope they wake up every day thinking about what they took from our family,” Kaylee said. “Because we have to wake up every day and see that image of our father in our head, and no child should ever have to see that.”
The girls gushed over their father, a man who relished in being a “girl dad,” a dog lover, and would go bass fishing no matter the weather:
At 16, Corey Comperatore became a volunteer firefighter, and eventually a fire chief. He loved his two rambunctious Dobermann pinschers, and bass fishing was his passion. Helen showed us his favorite fishing spot, a place they went every weekend, even in the rain.”His answer was, ‘Well, the fish are wet, they don’t care,'” she said.But most of all, the family says Corey was the best “girl dad.””He would put my hair in braids if I wanted my hair in braids,” Allyson said. “When I was doing competitive cheer, he was the cool dad because he could do back handsprings — and as soon as everybody got wind of that, he had all these little girls begging him to go up and do these back handsprings on the tumble track.”
Trump invited Helen to his next rally in Butler, PA.
Helen has not said yes. She wants to make sure security won’t fail this time before she goes on stage.
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