One of the spectators shot during the assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died, officials and his family attorney said Thursday.
James Copenhaver, 76, of Moon Township, died on Wednesday “surrounded by his loved ones,” an attorney for his family said in a statement.
Copenhaver was one of three attendees struck when a gunman opened fire at the rally in Butler on July 13, 2024, according to Pennsylvania State Police.
He was “gravely wounded” in the shooting, attorney Joseph Feldman said in a statement on behalf of Copenhaver’s family.
“Throughout that difficult time, James faced every challenge with the same strength and resolve that defined his life, and the kindness shown by so many brought great comfort to him and to those who love him,” Feldman said.
Copenhaver and his family “have been deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support they have received over the past two years,” Feldman said.
Copenhaver is remembered by his family as a “devoted husband, father, and grandfather” and a veteran of the armed forces whose “dedication to this great country was a defining part of his life,” Feldman said.
Copenhaver died at a hospital in Pittsburgh on Wednesday, according to the Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner. The cause and manner of death are pending, it told ABC News on Thursday.
Trump called Copenhaver a “true American Patriot” in a statement on social media Thursday, saying his death is a “tremendous loss.”
“His indelible legacy of love and devotion will forever endure,” Trump said.
House Republicans addressed Copenhaver’s death in a statement Thursday, saying he “endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance.”
“We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time. May he rest in peace,” the statement said.
Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro also extended his condolences to Copenhaver’s family.
“The political violence that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024 is never okay,” Shapiro said in a statement Thursday. “I said it at the time in Butler and I say it again today: we all have a responsibility to take down the temperature, rise above hateful rhetoric, and search for a brighter future for this nation.”
Former Marine David Dutch was also injured in the assassination attempt, police said. He was shot in the chest and liver and was initially in a medically induced coma after the shooting, according to the Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania.
The third attendee struck by gunfire — 50-year-old firefighter Corey Comperatore — died shielding his family, officials said.
Trump was grazed in the ear by a bullet.
Officials said the gunman — 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park, Pennsylvania — fired up to eight shots from the roof of a nearby building before a Secret Service sharpshooter shot and killed him.
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