In sad news, James “Jim” Copenhaver, who was shot during the July 2024 assassination attempt on Donald Trump and endured lasting injuries, has died at 76, his family announced Thursday.
Copenhaver died Wednesday at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County medical examiner’s office. The office did not publicly release a cause of death, though Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo said Copenhaver had struggled with his wounds for more than two years.
“Jim was shot twice at the Butler rally on July 13, 2024,” Longo posted, according to The Daily Caller. “He survived that day, but he never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him.”
Copenhaver was attending Trump’s campaign rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Pennsylvania when Thomas Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop. The attack killed former volunteer fire chief Corey Comperatore, wounded Copenhaver and fellow spectator David Dutch, and left Trump bleeding from his right ear. A Secret Service counter-sniper killed Crooks at the scene.
Saddened to learn of the passing of Jim Copenhaver.
Jim was shot twice at the Butler rally on July 13, 2024.
He survived that day, but he never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him.Those of… pic.twitter.com/jQJKJM39UE
— Jondavid “JD” Longo (@JondavidRLongo) September 24, 2026
In a statement provided to Fox News, Copenhaver’s family remembered his military service and devotion to the country.
“James’s dedication to this great country was a defining part of his life. As a veteran, he proudly served our nation in the armed forces, and his love of country never wavered. James was a true American patriot who believed deeply in the freedoms and ideals upon which this nation was founded, and he embodied the very best traits of our great nation,” the Copenhaver family said.
His injuries continued to affect his life long after the shooting, according to accounts shared after his death. HeadlineUSA editor Ken Silva wrote Thursday on X: “It’s no secret that Jim was dealing with permanent injuries from Butler—including having bullet fragments still inside of him.”
Copenhaver sued the Secret Service on June 1, alleging “negligence, recklessness and/or carelessness” in its handling of security at the rally. His complaint argued that the agency failed to stop Crooks despite concerns about his behavior before the attack.
“Due to the failures of the USSS, a twenty-year-old individual who was observed to be acting erratically in the hours before the shooting and who was the subject of an intensive search, managed to climb onto the roof of a building and fire eight shots before being killed by a counter-sniper,” the complaint stated.
Attorneys representing Copenhaver in the case did not immediately comment. The shooting brought intense scrutiny of the Secret Service’s preparations and response, as well as criticism of how quickly the agency disclosed information about its failures.
Then-Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned 10 days after the attack, following her testimony before the House Oversight Committee. Comperatore, the spectator killed that day, was fatally wounded while shielding members of his family.
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