James Copenhaver, who was wounded in the 2024 assassination attempt at a Donald Trump campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, died on September 23 at age 76. The cause of death was pending investigation, the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office said.
Copenhaver was seated in the bleachers at the July 13, 2024, rally when gunfire struck him in the arm and abdomen. He spent a week in hospital and used a colostomy bag for at least a year, according to his friend Albert Quaye. Quaye said Copenhaver later recovered fully and no longer needed the bag.
Quaye, who met Copenhaver around 2021 at a local supervisors’ meeting in Moon Township, remembered him as cheerful and said they had become friends. Copenhaver was retired, took part in a military banner committee in the township and played in a band, friends said. Public records indicated he was married and had at least one son; his family could not immediately be reached for comment on September 24.
The Butler shooting also wounded Trump and critically injured David Dutch, a Marine Corps veteran. Corey Comperatore, a father of two, was killed. The gunman, Thomas Crooks, was shot dead by the Secret Service.