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James Copenhaver died on Wednesday at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh after a prolonged battle with complications from gunshot wounds sustained more than two years earlier, his lawyer Joseph Feldman said in a statement issued on behalf of the family. The 76-year-old was struck in the arm and abdomen while seated in the bleachers at the Butler Farm Show grounds, according to an NPR report on the incident. Feldman added that Copenhaver passed away surrounded by loved ones. Pennsylvania authorities had previously identified him as one of two attendees who survived their injuries from the shooting that also left former President Donald Trump with a grazed ear.
Copenhaver had endured multiple surgeries, infections and ongoing pain in the years since the attack, with a bullet remaining lodged near his spine that forced him to walk with a cane, he told CBS News in an interview a year after the rally. The Pennsylvania attorney general confirmed the death stemmed from complications of those injuries, local media accounts noted. In the immediate aftermath of the July 2024 event, Copenhaver was listed among the critically wounded alongside David Dutch, who survived, according to Pennsylvania State Police data cited by The New York Times. Corey Comperatore, another attendee, was killed instantly while shielding his family.
The shooting unfolded on July 13, 2024, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop roughly 150 yards from the stage, an investigation summary by the FBI detailed. Crooks, who was killed by Secret Service counter-snipers moments later, used an AR-15-style rifle and struck three rally attendees in addition to grazing Trump’s right ear, according to a reconstruction published by The Associated Press. The rally in Butler, a town north of Pittsburgh, drew thousands of supporters as Trump campaigned for the Republican nomination, The New York Times reported at the time. Security lapses that allowed the gunman to reach an elevated position outside the venue perimeter became the focus of multiple congressional reviews in the months that followed.
President Trump reacted to news of Copenhaver’s death by posting on his Truth Social platform, describing the victim as “a true American patriot.” Trump added that Copenhaver “showed tremendous bravery, courageously continuing to FIGHT, FIGHT, FIGHT, and maintaining a positive spirit despite unimaginable hardships,” according to a statement relayed by the Los Angeles Times. The former president had raised his fist in defiance immediately after the shooting while urging the crowd to “fight,” video footage from the event widely documented. Copenhaver and Dutch had spoken publicly about their physical and emotional recovery in subsequent interviews, highlighting the lasting impact on survivors.
The incident marked one of the most significant episodes of political violence in recent U.S. history and contributed to heightened security measures at subsequent campaign events, a pattern noted in a City & State Pennsylvania retrospective published last year. Federal investigators never established a clear motive for Crooks, who was a registered Republican from nearby Bethel Park, according to FBI briefings covered by NBC News. The event prompted an independent review ordered by then-President Joe Biden into Secret Service protocols, with findings that identified communication breakdowns between agencies. Copenhaver’s death brings the fatality count from the rally to two, excluding the gunman.
Medical examiner officials in Allegheny County provided the formal determination linking Copenhaver’s passing to the 2024 wounds, as shared with regional outlets. His family has requested privacy as they grieve, Feldman’s statement emphasized. The original shooting also injured several law enforcement officers with debris, though none fatally, Wikipedia’s compiled timeline drawn from official records indicated. Public memorials for the victims, including Comperatore, have been maintained in the Butler area since the attack.
