Pittsburgh-area man recalls giving medical assistance to Corey Comperatore, man killed at Trump rally
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — A Beaver County man at Saturday's rally for former President Donald Trump came to the aid of the shooting victims in the stands moments after an assassin tried to take the life of Trump.
Rico Elmore, vice chair of the Beaver County Republican Party, was invited to speak at Trump's rally in Butler Township, but the Air National Guardsman's role quickly changed from politics to medic when shots were fired.
Elmore, who was sitting in the second row behind the former president, saw Corey Comperatore get shot.
"I immediately left my seat, took my tie off, grabbed a bottle of water, because in my mind I was going to put a tourniquet on him, and I'm going to flush out his wounds," Elmore said. "That's what we're taught in the military."
Elmore says he grabbed a towel and applied it to the head wound of the victim.
"We didn't know how severe it was," he said. "At that point, I was with a doctor, Dr. Sweetland, who was amazing and a true hero of the day. We picked up Corey by his pants, turned him over, and the doctor immediately began to do CPR. At the same time, I am physically holding his head, and I tilt the towel back to see the results of the injury. And, unfortunately, at that point, we both knew, didn't say it, but we knew what had happened and what the outcome would be."
Elmore says a true hero, Comperatore, had died — a man he never knew.
"I did not know him whatsoever," Elmore said. "It was a citizen just like myself. A person just like myself. A father just like myself that I came to the aid of – a true hero."
Elmore also assisted in removing other victims. And in the days since, he says he's on an adrenaline high but being so involved in this tragedy has taken a toll.
"Short nights, early mornings, they call it," he said. "It's not because I want to. Sleeping a few hours a night is where I'm at now."
"I am not a hero," he added. "I'm an individual, a father, a brother, a friend, a military guy. I'm somebody who just acted the way everyone else would act."
Elmore said his commanding officers have all reached out to him with great support. He also got a surprise invitation to attend the Republican convention on Friday in Milwaukee to hear Trump's address.