Autopsy reports for firefighter Corey Comperatore and would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks showed both died from a single gunshot wound to the head.
Butler County Coroner William F. Young III said Wednesday that the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office completed the reports for both men who died at the July 13 rally for former President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Connoquenessing Township.
According to Young, the head wounds were the cause of death and the only gunshot wounds found on both of the deceased.
It is unclear how many total shots were fired, including by law enforcement.
Comperatore of Buffalo Township died after being struck by a bullet fired by Crooks from a nearby roof. He was shielding his family from the shots, which also struck Trump’s ear and seriously wounded two other spectators, David Dutch of Plum and James Copenhaver of Moon.
Officials said a U.S. Secret Service sniper killed the gunman after Crooks fired about eight shots from the roof of a Butler Township building that overlooks the farm show grounds.
Young sent both of their bodies to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office the day after the shooting. He said July 17 his initial assessment was that both Comperatore and Crooks died from gunshot wounds to the head.
Young classified both deaths as homicide.
This story is published as part of a collaboration with the Butler Eagle.
