More than four months after the July 13 assassination attempt on former President Trump during a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, local officials have released a series of 911 calls made that day.
One of the calls was from the wife of James Copenhaver, a 74-year-old victim from Moon Township, who had been shot during the rally. She told dispatchers she was unsure of where her husband had been taken, saying, “Paramedics serviced him. I called Butler Hospital. He’s not there. They told me to call 911.” The dispatcher then instructed her to remain on the line.
The calls provide a closer look at the chaos following the shooting by Thomas Matthew Crooks, who fired approximately eight rounds, injuring Copenhaver and David Dutch, and killing Corey Comperatore. Trump himself was grazed by a bullet in the ear. Several attendees at the rally made frantic 911 calls, one saying, “Gunshots. Gunshots at the Trump rally,” while another caller stressed the urgency, saying, “We need assistance now.”
Another call was from a woman checking on her mother who was at the rally. She was informed by dispatchers that police were on the way, but she still asked, “What am I supposed to do?”
Crooks had positioned himself on the roof of a building about 200 yards from Trump’s stage, gaining access by climbing HVAC equipment. About an hour before the shooting, a Beaver County sniper had noticed Crooks acting suspiciously and reported it to Pennsylvania State Police. This sighting occurred at 5:10 p.m., just over an hour before the first shots were fired at 6:11.
After shots rang out, a local Butler County officer spotted Crooks and fired a shot, causing him to temporarily lose balance. A Secret Service sniper later delivered the fatal shot that neutralized Crooks, who was perched on the AGR building with a clear view of Trump.
Earlier in the day, Crooks had been at the rally site for over an hour and was seen flying a drone in the area. FBI Director Christopher Wray testified that Crooks had been present at the rally for roughly 70 minutes prior to the attack. Investigators later discovered eight casings on the rooftop where Crooks had fired from.
