Loved ones of the firefighter killed at Donald Trump's Pennsylvania rally have shockingly revealed that he wasn't supposed to be sitting in that seat.
The former president of the United States survived an assassination attempt that killed one of his supporters and wounded two others during a rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on July 13.
The 78-year-old Republican nominee had only been speaking for around six minutes when several armed security forces jumped onto the podium to protect him from the bullets.
The shooter has been identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, 20. He was killed just seconds after the chaos began.
The tragic event left Trump with an ear injury after he was grazed by a bullet that flew past his head. Meanwhile, a man named Corey Comperatore was fatally killed, while two other victims, 57-year-old David Dutch, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver were both shot and are now in stable condition.
Thousands of mourners filed into a Pennsylvania banquet hall on Thursday (July 18) to pay tribute to Comperatore, who worked as a project and tooling engineer, was an Army reservist, and spent many years as a volunteer firefighter after serving as chief, per his obituary.
The 50-year-old victim's heartbroken widow Helen revealed that he attended the rally with her and his two daughters, and pushed them to the ground when Crooks began firing bullets.
It has also been disclosed at Comperatore’s wake that the firefighter wasn’t supposed to be sitting in the seat that put him in the line of fire. The family moved into the front row after someone offered them tickets.
“So talk about a freak, freak accident. That he wasn’t even supposed to be sitting there and he ends up losing his life,” Scott Dockherty, the CEO of manufacturing company CID Associates, where Comperatore’s brother worked, said, per The New York Post.
“It’s heartbreaking. A man lost his life because of hatred in this country. It’s terrible … The world has to change and it needs to change fast. It’s sad,” Dockherty said. “The hatred is terrible.”
The ex-president honored Comperatore during his presidential nomination speech on Thursday night.
Trump displayed the father-of-two's firefighting gear on the convention stage and kissed his helmet before praising him as “an unbelievable person".
Comperatore’s family described him as a “beloved father and husband, and a friend to so many throughout the Butler region," as cited by AP News.
“Our family is finding comfort and peace through the heartfelt messages of encouragement from people around the world, through the support of our church and community, and most of all through the strength of God,” the statement said.
The late man's wife added that her husband "was a simple man but he put his wife and kids first all the time. I did nothing here. I didn’t lift a finger. He did everything".
“It was a bad day,” she continued. “He was a very loving husband."