When gunshots rang out at a campaign event for former President Trump, an attendee rushed over to help the injured, including a volunteer firefighter who was killed by the gunman.
Retired emergency room physician Dr. James Sweetland recounted the horrific events on “Fox News @ Night,” saying the gunshots initially sounded like firecrackers.
“There were three bangs. There was a pause of about three or four seconds, and then there were four more bangs,” he said.
“I, like everyone else in the stands, turned to look to our right, over the field and a line of trees, to see where it was coming from. I then turned around and saw the Secret Service charging toward President Trump. It quickly turned into a human pyramid of about six Secret Service agents.”
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Undated images of Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was killed in a shooting during former President Donald Trump's rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, Saturday, July 13, 2024. (Facebook)
The doctor then heard a woman screaming for help near the stands.
“I heard a voice, a woman's voice coming from the bleachers, just 30 feet away, to my right and on the benches, saying that he had been shot. Help! He's been shot. He's down. Help him!”
Dr. Sweetland then rushed to help Corey Comperatore, 50.
“When I got to him, I came across people who were crouching down and there was a big pool of blood. Unfortunately, there was brain matter there. I examined him briefly and he had a gunshot wound just above his right ear. It appeared to be fatal,” he said.
After moving Comperatore to the bench, Dr. Sweetland performed CPR but said the man had no pulse and was not breathing.
“I was performing CPR at the feet of his wife and daughter. I'll never forget the look on their faces when I looked at them. It was pain, shock, and hope at the same time. I remember telling them without thinking twice, 'They're taking him to a place where he can get help.'”
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Dr. James Sweetland recounts helping injured protesters in Pennsylvania, where former President Trump narrowly survived an assassination attempt. (Getty/Fox News)
Comperatore died while shielding his wife and family from gunfire after a 20-year-old man sneaked onto a rooftop and began shooting at Trump during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania.
The shooting also left two rally attendees injured, while Trump narrowly survived with only a blow to the ear.
Police have identified the other two victims as James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township, Pennsylvania, and David Dutch, 57, of New Kensington, Pennsylvania.
When the first shots rang out, Trump fell to the ground surrounded by Secret Service agents. It was initially unclear whether Trump had been hit by the gunfire.
“I thought the worst,” Sweetland said. “I heard a roar from the crowd behind me. I didn't turn around, but I assumed something was happening behind me.”
“I didn't realize until later that those cheers came when he punched the air, and that was what the crowd wanted to know to prove that it was okay.”
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The former president continued with his plans to attend the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee despite the tragedy. Trump has reflected on the dire straits, telling ABC News that he has rewritten what was supposed to be a “stunning” speech after a shooter tried to kill him on Saturday, and will now deliver one aimed at “unity.”
The FBI is leading the ongoing investigation into the attempted murder and the shooter, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.
Fox News' Brooke Singman, Greg Norman, Michael Ruiz, Lucas Tomlinson, Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, Anders Hagstrom, Gabriele Regalbuto, Michael Lee, Greg Wehner, Bradford Betz, Stepheny Price, Louis Casiano, Landon Mion and Elizabeth Pritchett contributed to this report.
