The volunteer firefighter who died while shielding his family from the sniper who tried to kill former President Trump over the weekend at a rally in Pennsylvania said “get down!” as his final words, his wife has revealed.
Helen Comperatore told the New York Post that she and her husband Corey were close to celebrating their 29th wedding anniversary when their family headed to the campaign event in Butler, outside of Pittsburgh, on Saturday.
“He’s my hero,” Helen Comperatore said to the newspaper from her home in nearby Sarver, Pennsylvania. “He just said, ‘get down!’ That was the last thing he said.”
“Me and the kids were all there as a family,” she added. “He was just excited. It was going to be a nice day with the family.
TRUMP RALLY VICTIM COREY COMPERATORE DIED SHIELDING FAMILY AND ‘WOULD’VE DONE IT AGAIN,’ FRIEND SAYS
Former Buffalo Township Fire Chief Corey Comperatore is pictured with his daughters in an undated family photo. (Helen Comperatore/Facebook)
Corey Comperatore, 50, was the former fire chief for the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company. The department now has a memorial set up outside its firehouse featuring Comperatore’s uniform to honor who they described as a “brother, son, husband, father and friend.”
“He was a simple man, but he put his wife and kids first all the time. I did nothing here. I didn’t lift a finger. He did everything,” Helen Comperatore told the New York Post in the wake of the shooting, which injured Trump and critically injured two other rallygoers who are expected to survive.
Helen Comperatore also said President Biden tried to call her family following the incident but “I didn’t want to talk to him.
“I didn’t talk to Biden,” she said. “My husband was a devout Republican and he would not have wanted me to talk to him.”
“I don’t have any ill-will towards Joe Biden,” Helen Comperatore added. “I’m not one of those people that gets involved in politics. I support Trump, that’s who I’m voting for but I don’t have ill-will towards Biden.”
FAMILY MEMBERS SPEAK OUT FOLLOWING COREY COMPERATORE’S DEATH
A memorial for volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, an attendee killed during gunfire at former President Trump’s rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday, July 13. (REUTERS/Brendan McDermid)
Helen Comperatore described the shooter at the rally, 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, as a “despicable kid.”
On Sunday, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro said he spoke with Helen Comperatore.
“Corey Comperatore was a girl dad. Corey was a firefighter. Corey went to church every Sunday. Corey loved his community, and most especially Corey loves his family,” he said at a news conference. “Corey was an avid supporter of the former president and was so excited to be there last night with him in the community.”
President Biden also said Sunday that he and first lady Jill Biden “extend our deepest condolences to the family of the victim who was killed.
Volunteer firefighter Corey Comperatore, center, was getting close to celebrating his 29th wedding anniversary, his wife Helen told the New York Post. (Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Dept/Handout via REUTERS)
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“He was a father. He was protecting his family from the bullets that were being fired, and he lost his life. God love him,” Biden said.
Fox News’ Michael Dorgan and Chris Pandolfo contributed to this report.