Two Years Later, Another Man Shot at Trump’s Butler Rally Has Died

Two years after a gunman tried to kill Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, another man who was shot that day is gone.

Jim Copenhaver, 76, one of two spectators critically wounded in the assassination attempt, has died. Journalist Ken Silva first reported the news on X.

Silva, citing a source close to the family, said Copenhaver had been living with permanent injuries from Butler, including bullet fragments still inside him. The evil of that day stayed with him for two years.

"I’ve got very sad news: Jim Copenhaver, who was shot at the Butler Trump rally on July 13, 2024, has died," he wrote. "I don’t have many details at this point, but it’s no secret that Jim was dealing with permanent injuries from Butler — including having bullet fragments still inside of him."

This is very sad to hear. https://t.co/bAr51GyhNt

— Laura Ingraham (@IngrahamAngle) September 24, 2026

An official cause of death has not been released, and his family is not yet speaking publicly. 

President Trump was the target at the Butler campaign rally, where Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a rooftop overlooking the crowd. The assassin's bullet struck Trump's ear, leaving him bloodied. 

Corey Comperatore, a retired volunteer fire chief, was killed in the assassination attempt as he protected his wife and daughters.

Copenhaver and David Dutch were critically wounded and rushed to the hospital. Copenhaver was struck with two bullets, one of which tore through his tricep and another that struck him in the abdomen. Dutch took a bullet to his liver.

“I turned around to my friend, and I said, ‘I think I was shot,’ and that’s when I got the second one and then I went down,” Copenhaver explained during an interview with NBC News.

He went through multiple surgeries, ultimately being left with fragments of the bullets still inside him. He later recovered enough to speak publicly about the attack and criticized the security failures at the rally.

“I’m sure there was negligence. It wouldn’t have happened, had it been secure,” Copenhaver said of the Secret Service's many documented failures leading up to and during the Butler rally.

We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Copenhaver, who was gravely wounded in the horrific shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.

Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance.

We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them… pic.twitter.com/wmAMjp2lAz

— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) September 24, 2026

Embedded tweet continues:

... during this difficult time. May he rest in peace.

Multiple agents were suspended without pay in connection with their response to the attempted assassination.

"The Secret Service’s overall lack of policy and processes, coupled with limited intelligence sharing and poor collaboration and communication with protectee staff and state and local law enforcement, set the conditions that led to missing opportunities to prevent and detect the attempted assassination," an inspector general report revealed.

A cascade of inexcusable failures affected many lives. A man died in this attack, two others were severely wounded, and the future President was almost killed. Had Crooks struck Trump as intended, the nation would have almost surely been plunged into absolute chaos.

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