James Copenhaver, one of the spectators wounded during the 2024 assassination attempt on then-presidential candidate Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died at the age of 76.
Copenhaver died Wednesday, September 23, 2026, roughly two years after he was shot during the July 13, 2024 attack. His family’s attorney confirmed his death, while Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said he died from complications stemming from the injuries he suffered during the shooting. The Allegheny County medical examiner’s office was still handling the formal determination of the cause and manner of death in early reports.
Copenhaver had survived the attack but continued to live with severe and lasting injuries. His death has now brought renewed attention to the long-term consequences of the shooting and the security failures that allowed the gunman to open fire on the rally from a nearby rooftop.
Who was James Copenhaver?
James Copenhaver was a resident of the Pittsburgh-area community of Coraopolis and was attending Trump’s campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024.
He was among three people struck by gunfire when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop outside the rally grounds.
Trump was wounded in the ear. Fellow rally attendee David Dutch was also injured and survived. Corey Comperatore, a former fire chief who was attending the event with his family, was killed.
The shooting became one of the most serious security failures surrounding a major US political event in recent history.
How was James Copenhaver injured?
James Copenhaver suffered multiple gunshot wounds during the attack.
According to reporting from his family and local media, one bullet struck his arm while another entered his abdomen, causing severe internal injuries.
The abdominal wound caused significant damage, including a transection of his colon. He also suffered nerve damage and other lasting complications.
Copenhaver spent about a week in the hospital following the shooting before being discharged, but his recovery did not end there. His injuries continued to affect him long after he left the hospital.
He later used a cane and continued to deal with medical complications associated with the wounds.
What did James Copenhaver say about the moment he was shot?
In a later interview with Pittsburgh television station KDKA, Copenhaver described the moment he realized something was wrong.
He said he was looking toward the large video screen when he suddenly felt his sleeve being pulled. He then heard a sound and initially did not understand that he had been hit.
Copenhaver recalled turning around after the first shot and then being struck again.
He described the second impact as a jolt that did not knock him down but made him reluctant to remain standing.
His account offered a glimpse into how quickly the rally changed from a political event into a scene of panic and gunfire.
Did Copenhaver ever fully recover?
No.
Although he survived the shooting, his injuries were permanent and required continuing treatment.
According to his family’s lawsuit against the federal government, Copenhaver underwent multiple surgeries after the attack and was left with serious long-term physical damage.
The lawsuit described his wounds as debilitating, grievous and life-altering.
His lawyers also said he continued to experience medical problems associated with the shooting, including damage involving his kidneys and loss of sensation in part of his leg.
Those lingering injuries are central to the circumstances surrounding his death.
Was his death directly caused by the shooting?
Early reporting points to a connection, but the wording requires care.
Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said Copenhaver died from complications stemming from wounds sustained in the Butler shooting.
His family’s lawyer confirmed that he died surrounded by loved ones, while some initial reports noted that the official medical determination of the cause and manner of death was still pending.
That means the strongest formulation at this stage is that Copenhaver died after suffering long-term complications from injuries sustained in the 2024 shooting, while the formal medical record should be relied upon for the final cause of death.
What happened during the Butler rally shooting?
The attack occurred on July 13, 2024, during Trump’s campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds.
Crooks positioned himself on the roof of a nearby building and opened fire toward the stage.
Trump was speaking when gunfire erupted. He was struck in the right ear and was quickly surrounded by Secret Service agents before being taken from the stage.
The attack lasted only moments, but it killed Comperatore and wounded Copenhaver and Dutch.
Crooks was subsequently killed by a Secret Service counter-sniper.
The incident immediately triggered questions about how the gunman had been able to obtain a firing position so close to the former president.
What did investigators find about the security failures?
A bipartisan House task force later concluded that the shooting was preventable.
Its final report, released in December 2024, identified failures in planning, execution and leadership involving the Secret Service and its law-enforcement partners.
The task force said the problems were not caused by one isolated mistake. Instead, it described a series of failures and preexisting weaknesses that combined to leave Trump, the rally attendees and other people at the event dangerously exposed.
The report identified problems with advance planning, communication, responsibility and the deployment of personnel.
It ultimately produced 37 recommendations intended to address the problems identified during the investigation.
What happened to Secret Service leadership after the shooting?
The security breakdown led to major scrutiny within the Secret Service.
Then-Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned less than two weeks after the Butler attack.
The House investigation also examined the agency’s planning procedures, staffing decisions and communication with local law enforcement.
The task force later said the event exposed broader structural problems that went beyond the actions of individual officers.
Six Secret Service employees were subsequently suspended without pay in connection with the security failures.
The fallout demonstrated that the consequences of the Butler shooting extended far beyond the night of the attack.
Did Copenhaver take legal action against the government?
Yes.
James Copenhaver and his wife, Marianne, filed a lawsuit against the federal government in June 2026.
The lawsuit alleged that the Secret Service and the Department of Homeland Security failed to provide adequate protection at the rally.
Their legal complaint argued that the government’s security failures contributed directly to the conditions that allowed Crooks to open fire from the nearby rooftop.
The lawsuit was still part of the legal landscape surrounding the Butler shooting when Copenhaver died.
Any allegations made in the lawsuit remain allegations unless established through litigation or other official findings.
What happened to the other surviving victim?
David Dutch, the other rally attendee wounded by gunfire, survived the attack.
Dutch was hospitalized alongside Copenhaver and later spoke publicly about the shooting.
His survival means that two of the three people struck by Crooks lived through the attack, although Copenhaver’s death has now made clear how lasting the physical consequences could be.
Copenhaver’s passing also leaves Dutch as the surviving rally victim most directly linked to the shooting alongside Trump himself.
What happened to Corey Comperatore?
Corey Comperatore, 50, was killed while attending the rally with his family.
According to accounts from people who knew him, Comperatore moved to protect his family when the gunfire began.
Trump later honored him publicly and repeatedly referred to him while discussing the assassination attempt.
Copenhaver’s death means that two people who were directly caught in the shooting have now died, although their circumstances were very different.
Comperatore died at the scene. Copenhaver survived for more than two years while dealing with the consequences of his wounds.
Why has Copenhaver’s death renewed attention on the Butler shooting?
The shooting has remained a subject of intense scrutiny because of what it revealed about political-event security in the United States.
At the time, the central questions concerned how Crooks reached the rooftop, why the building was not adequately secured and how warnings about the threat were handled.
Copenhaver’s death shifts some of the focus back toward the victims.
The attack was over in minutes, but its physical consequences continued for years.
His experience illustrates the difference between surviving an attack and escaping its consequences. For Copenhaver, the shooting did not end when the gunman was killed or when he left the hospital. It became a long-term medical ordeal.
Did Trump return to Butler after the shooting?
Yes.
Trump returned to Butler in October 2024 for another rally at the same site.
During that event, he honored Corey Comperatore and revisited the location where he had been attacked.
The return was closely watched because it brought Trump back to the same grounds where the assassination attempt had taken place only months earlier.
Copenhaver’s condition at that point remained part of the broader aftermath of the shooting.
How did people react to Copenhaver’s death?
The announcement prompted tributes from political figures and people connected to the Butler rally.
House Republicans described Copenhaver as someone who endured enormous hardship after being gravely wounded.
Trump also issued condolences, describing Copenhaver as a “true American Patriot” and praising the courage he displayed following the attack.
Local officials and people who knew Copenhaver likewise emphasized the long recovery he endured after the shooting.
The comments reflected the fact that his story had become closely associated with the lasting human cost of the attack.
What does his death mean for the Butler investigation?
Copenhaver’s death does not reopen the investigation into the shooting itself.
The major federal and congressional inquiries into the attack have already been conducted, and the House task force issued its final findings in December 2024.
However, his death may become relevant to the ongoing legal proceedings surrounding his family’s lawsuit.
The medical circumstances of his death could also become important if lawyers seek to establish the extent to which his later health problems were connected to the injuries sustained in Butler.
That determination ultimately depends on medical evidence and the legal process.
A survivor who carried the shooting for two years
The Butler shooting lasted only moments.
For James Copenhaver, its consequences lasted more than two years.
He survived being shot at a political rally and left the hospital, but the injuries remained with him through surgeries, rehabilitation and continuing physical problems.
His death at 76 is now the latest development in a tragedy that already claimed the life of Corey Comperatore and permanently changed the lives of Copenhaver and David Dutch.
The House task force concluded that the attack should not have happened and identified failures that contributed to the security breakdown.
Copenhaver’s story adds another dimension to that finding: the damage caused by a political assassination attempt cannot always be measured by what happens in the first few minutes.
Sometimes the aftermath continues long after the headlines have moved on.
What happens next?
The medical examiner’s findings will help establish the formal cause and manner of Copenhaver’s death.
His family’s lawsuit against the federal government also remains part of the broader legal aftermath of the Butler attack.
Meanwhile, the congressional record already provides a detailed account of the security failures surrounding the shooting and the changes recommended in response.
For Copenhaver’s family, however, the story is no longer about an investigation or a political campaign.
It is the loss of a husband, father and grandfather who survived one of the most consequential political shootings in recent US history, only to spend the following two years living with the injuries it left behind.
