By Marc Bashoor
In the 50-year existence of the U.S. Secret Service Counter Sniper Team, agents had not fired a single shot to take down a suspect. That all changed on July 13, 2024, at Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, where a lone gunman was taken down by Secret Service agents, but not before a would-be assassin had opened fire on the former president.
In my lifetime, I’ve seen two similar situations – the 1981 shooting of President Ronald Reagan and the 1972 shooting of presidential candidate George Wallace. These were both tragic events, with the politicians among others wounded in the attacks; however, the Butler shooting diverges in a dramatically tragic way from the others – a former fire chief was shot and killed.
Remembering Chief Corey Comperatore
Attending the rally with his family, 50-year-old volunteer firefighter and former chief Corey Comperatore heard the shots and dove across his wife and daughters to protect them. He took at least one bullet and succumbed to his injuries. In addition to former President Trump, two others were injured and, as of this writing, remain hospitalized.
Corey has been remembered as the consummate professional who would help anyone. Neighbors described Corey as an easy-going and patriotic guy, who enjoyed respectful political banter – something I wish we all could emulate.
The remembrances and eulogies are remarkable and fitting for a true hero. One of the social media posts moved me deeply – the post from one of Corey’s daughters:
“He was the best dad a girl could ever ask for.
The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero. They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.💔
Yesterday time stopped. And when it started again my family and I started living a real-life nightmare.
What was supposed to be an exciting day that we had all looked forward to (ESPECIALLY my dad), turned into the most traumatizing experiences someone could imagine.
I know the media will cover this event. And I’m going to try my best to stay away from looking at everything, especially because I’ve already seen and lived through it in real time. But I want everyone to know what the media will not cover, and will not say about him.
He was the best dad a girl could ever ask for. My sister and I never needed for anything. You call, he would answer, and he would do whatever it is you needed, and if he didn’t know how he would figure out how. He could talk and make friends with anyone, which he was doing all day yesterday and loved every minute of it. He was a man of God, loved Jesus fiercely, and also looked after our church and our members as family.
The media will not tell you that he died a real-life super hero. They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.
He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a real bullet for us. And I want nothing more than to cry on him and tell him thank you. I want nothing more than to wake up and for this to not be reality for me and my family.
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 the changed my life. I will never be the same person I was less than 24 hours ago.
There are a lot of children out there that say their dad is their hero, but my dad really is mine. I don’t think I would be here today without him.
Dad, I love you so much that there aren’t enough words to express how deep that love goes. I know you’ll give heaven some hell. I know that God is proud of the man that came to His gates yesterday ❤️”
The ultimate sacrifice
We speak those words – ultimate sacrifice – routinely in discussions of line-of-duty-death (LODD) incidents where firefighters valiantly worked to, for example, snatch trapped occupants from a burning structure before the floors collapse below us.
Comperatore’s death is particularly surreal to me, maybe because I think of my wife and two grown children, maybe because it has been 43 years since a similar incident, maybe because the previous incidents didn’t involve a fire service connection – I don’t know. I do know, though, that it certainly would not be top of my mind to think that I would have to make the ultimate sacrifice at, of all places, a political rally. We must remember that even though he was acting as a husband and father, Chief Comperatore’s actions were in the highest tradition of the fire service – he indeed paid the ultimate sacrifice in the protection of his own family.
Personal readiness
For many years, we in the fire service have done a good job of preparing the public for what to do in the event of a fire at their home. How well have we prepared ourselves and our families to face other deadly events? This event is an opportunity for us all to take stock of our personal readiness to not only face tragedy but also to take action.
Just like we preach the training mantra for firefighter safety and operational readiness in all fashions, ask yourself, “what would I do?” I don’t know about you, but to this day, one of the first things I do when I enter public occupancies with my family is to look for a second exit point from where I entered. I also look up to see if the place is sprinkler-protected. It’s really just about preparedness, and I’m imploring you to practice these scenarios with your family, very similar to how we tell others to practice home fire escapes with meeting points. You might consider it corny, and, yes, every situation will be different, just like with home fires, but that cannot stop us from being personally prepared to protect and rescue ourselves and our loved ones should similar situations present themselves. This doesn’t make you a conspiracy theorist or a doomsday prepper; it makes us readiness realists!
Social media: The good and the bad
Unlike the aforementioned incidents from 1981 and 1972, we learned about this shooting instantaneously. We didn’t have to be at the event or watching it live on TV. Within seconds, information about the shooting – both reliable and otherwise – hit phones and computers.
For all the good that comes with immediate access to news around the world, we see all too often how social media offers individuals the opportunity to share their unrestrained reflections and opinions, many of which do not uphold the public’s trust in our professional virtues. This is the right time for chiefs to be chiefs and remind each other – and ourselves – that if there was ever a time to back away from the keyboard (BAFTK), it is now.
We’ve already seen two cases of fire personnel resigning over unprofessional remarks related to the assassination attempt. A Pennsylvania fire captain resigned after a rally-related post on X went viral, and now a fire chief has resigned following a Facebook post with a similar sentiment, essentially wishing the former president had suffered greater harm.
While these two examples show the worst of social media, many individuals and organizations have used social media platforms to honor Comperatore and his brave actions. And social media likely fueled the GoFundMe to support Comperatore’s family – a campaign that started with a meager $7,000 goal and has now eclipsed $1.1 million. There’s the “fortunate” part. There is good in the world!
A time for reflection
Please use this opportunity to reflect on your personal and familial readiness – what would you do in this moment? We know what Chief Comperatore did, and we salute his actions.
Rest in Peace, Chief Comperatore – we’ve got it from here.
