James “Jim” Copenhaver, one of the people shot at a 2024 campaign rally for Donald Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died. He was 76.
Copenhaver died Wednesday at Allegheny Health Network’s West Penn Hospital in Pittsburgh, according to the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office. The office said he died at 12:45 p.m. and did not release a cause of death. He lived in Moon Township, west of Pittsburgh.
His lawyer, Joseph Feldman, said in a statement for the family that Copenhaver died surrounded by loved ones. The statement did not say whether the 2024 gunshot wounds caused his death. Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said Copenhaver died from complications stemming from those wounds.
We are deeply saddened by the passing of Jim Copenhaver, who was gravely wounded in the horrific shooting in Butler, Pennsylvania.
— House Republicans (@HouseGOP) September 24, 2026
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
Copenhaver was in the bleachers at the Butler Farm Show grounds on July 13, 2024, when 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks opened fire from a nearby rooftop. Trump was wounded in the right ear. Firefighter Corey Comperatore was killed. David Dutch of New Kensington was also shot and survived. A Secret Service countersniper killed Crooks.
Copenhaver was shot twice, in the arm and abdomen. A lawsuit he and his wife, Marianne, filed in June against the United States said the shots tore his left triceps, transected his colon and damaged his kidneys. He had multiple surgeries, lingering nerve damage and later walked with a cane. Bullet fragments remained in his body, according to people close to the family. He was a veteran and a retired Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board employee.
The couple’s lawsuit alleged the Secret Service and Homeland Security failed to secure the rally. Dutch and his wife filed a similar case. A House task force later found major security failures at the event.
House Republicans posted condolences Thursday. Trump called Copenhaver a patriot on social media and said he kept a positive spirit after the shooting.
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