PITTSBURGH – David “Jake” Dutch, one of the two victims critically wounded by gunshots at the Trump rally Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania, walked down the bleachers with a T-shirt bunched up against his wounds before getting help, friends told Fox News Digital.
Dutch, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, was struck twice at the Trump rally — once in the stomach and once in the liver, according to those who know him at the American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars lodges in Lower Burrell.
“He’s been a tremendous help to this club,” VFW commander Lee Johnson told Fox News Digital. “He’s involved with a couple different things we have here at the club. And I just feel so bad for David, his wife … great people. They’ve been members here for a long, long time.”
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David “Jake” Dutch is a Marine Corps veteran who served in Operation Desert Storm in 1991. (Facebook)
Johnson added that all the members are wishing Dutch a speedy recovery.
The 57-year-old was apparently showing signs of responsiveness Tuesday, Johnson said, though he did not know the full extent of the Marine vet’s recovery or condition.
“He’s a tremendous, tremendous guy.”
Another VFW member described Dutch as a “wonderful man” who loved his country and loved former President Trump; it had been a dream of his for a long time to attend a rally, she said.
David Dutch was a member of the VFW in Lower Burrell, Pa. (Fox News Digital)
Other friends at the American Legion described Dutch, who works at Siemens Innomotics in the Pittsburgh area, as a quiet guy who was humble about his military service.
“If you didn’t already know he was a Marine, you’d never know it,” Roger Milliron Jr., who said he’s known Dutch for 20 years, told Fox News Digital. “He isn’t a loud or boisterous person. He keeps to himself. He is a hard worker. He’s a friend.”
David Dutch was apparently shot twice at the Trump rally in Butler, Pa. (Facebook)
The morning after the rally, when the legion opened, Milliron and his friends were chatting at the bar when he shared the news about Dutch.
“And then we told everybody that was here what happened, and it went from jovial conversation to you could hear a pin drop,” Milliron said.
Steven Penn said Dutch would give anyone the shirt off his back, and he loves his country.
Friends described David Dutch as quiet and humble. (Fox News Digital)
“He’ll talk to anybody. He’s an all-around good guy,” Penn said, adding that it was “a shock” to everyone at the American Legion lodge to find out Dutch was one of the victims wounded at the rally.
Both lodges are collecting donations for Dutch.
“Our post is 100% behind him in supporting his family through everything,” Penn said.
Former President Trump, a Republican presidential candidate, is surrounded by U.S. Secret Service agents at a campaign rally Saturday, July 13, 2024, in Butler, Pa. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Pennsylvania State Police identified the other victim wounded at the rally as 74-year-old James Copenhaver of Moon Township, Pennsylvania.
State Police also identified 50-year-old Corey Comperatore, a volunteer firefighter from Buffalo Township, as the victim who died Saturday after he was shot while protecting his wife and daughters from gunfire.
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Federal authorities are still working to determine the motive behind shooter Thomas Crooks’ assassination attempt on Trump.
Federal authorities are asking anyone with information about the incident to send tips to FBI.gov/butler or call 1-800-CALL-FBI.