Hearing from the helpers who ran toward victims after Trump rally shooting

BUTLER COUNTY, Pa. — In the chaotic moments after several shots were fired at the Butler rally for former President Donald Trump, dozens of people hid for cover. Others ran away. And some ran towards danger, in the direction where people were screaming, badly injured and in need of help.

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Along with Trump, three rally attendees were shot and seriously hurt.

Seconds after the gunfire stopped, Rico Elmore and Dr. Jim Sweetland ran towards the risers. The most serious shooting victim, 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, was bleeding from the head.

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“Whenever the flight or fight kicks in, you make that decision, that choice,” Elmore said.

Elmore is a Rochester councilman and vice chair of the Republican committee of Beaver County. He also has military training.Sweetland is an emergency room doctor. His instincts immediately kicked in.

Both men ran to the risers and tended to Comperatore, a father and volunteer firefighter in Butler County.

“God puts you in places. You don’t know why. But God puts you in places where you’re needed,” Elmore said.

Elmore said he helped apply pressure to Comperatore’s wound and lift him from where he was slumped between rows in the risers.

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Sweetland said he performed CPR but knew the man was unlikely to survive.

Despite their best efforts, Comperatore succumbed to his injuries. His family later said he died shielding them from gunfire.

“Corey laid down his life to protect his family,” Elmore said.

Both men hope Comperatore’s family take comfort knowing they tried their best to save him.

“I’ve been called a hero. I don’t know that I’m a hero. Every hero needs a helper,” Sweetland said.

“I would go into battle with him any day of the week,” Elmore said.

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