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Man Dies Two Years After Trump Rally Shooting
Confirmed
In Short: Jim Copenhaver, a 74-year-old man who was wounded in a failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, in 2024, died on Wednesday, two years after the shooting.
Copenhaver was one of three civilians shot during the rally. He was seated in the bleachers behind Trump's dais when the gunman, Thomas Matthew Crooks, opened fire from a nearby rooftop.
The shooting also claimed the life of Corey Comperatore, a Butler County firefighter, who was shot and killed in the bleachers. Another man, David Dutch, was wounded but survived.
Copenhaver had filed a lawsuit in Pennsylvania federal court, alleging that the Secret Service failed to provide adequate security for the rally.
The House GOP also expressed condolences, noting the 'horrific' shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania, that left Copenhaver gravely wounded.
Copenhaver's passing marks the second fatality from the 2024 assassination attempt, highlighting the long-term impact of the incident on those involved.
What's confirmed
- "We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Copenhaver, who was gravely wounded in the horrific shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania," the tweet from the House GOP account read.
- James Copenhaver, of Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who was wounded in a failed assassination attempt on President Donald Trump in 2024, has died, according to several reports.
What's still developing
- Updated on: September 24, 2026 / 6:10 PM EDT / CBS Pittsburgh One of the men who was wounded in the attempted assassination of President Trump at a 2024 campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died.
- In a statement on behalf of his family, Jim Copenhaver's lawyer confirmed the "devoted" husband, father and grandfather died on Wednesday, two years after he was "gravely wounded" during a shooting at a Trump rally.
- Associated Press chief DC photographer Evan Vucci joins 'The Sunday Briefing' to discuss capturing the iconic Butler image, how he spotted a major scoop in real time and what it’s like documenting President Donald Trump’s return to office.
- Ken Silva, a journalist who wrote a book about the assassination attempt, wrote on his website that a person close to Copenhaver's family also confirmed Copenhaver had died and had been dealing with permanent injuries, including bullet fragments still lodged in his body.
- Mayor Jondavid Longo of nearby Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania — who spoke at the Butler rally — mourned Copenhaver’s reported death Thursday.
- Secret Service missed ‘multiple opportunities’ to prevent Trump assassination attempt: watchdog "[Copenhaver] survived that day, but he never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him. Those of us who were there that day have never forgotten Corey Comperatore, David Dutch, or Jim," Longo said in a statement on X.
- A subsequent bipartisan House task force concluded the Butler attack was preventable and identified failures in planning, execution and leadership.
- Copenhaver, in his mid-70s, was one of several people who attempted assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks shot at the Butler Farm Show complex outside Butler, Pennsylvania, after Crooks scaled the roof of a nearby glass manufacturing building and took aim at the then-presidential candidate.
- A man who was injured two years ago in an assassination attempt on Donald Trump has died, according to a statement from his family on Thursday.
- Serving his country was a “defining” aspect of Copenhaver’s life, his family said, and he was deeply grateful for the outpouring of love he received following the Butler shooting.
- Jim Copenhaver suffered what his family described as “life-altering” injuries after being shot in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13, 2024.
- He hadn’t even realized he was shot until he saw part of his sleeve “go away.” “I mean I heard it distinctly,” Copenhaver said of the shooting.