Corey Comperatore, the retired fire chief of Buffalo Township, was sitting behind the former president shot and killed by gunman 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks.

The 50-year-old died a hero as his family revealed he was shielding his young daughter and wife from the gunfire when he was killed.  

Members of the audience frantically tried to save the father's life in the bleachers in Butler after Crooks opened fire from a rooftop 130 yards away.

The two other men who were critically injured in the gunfire were named on Sunday afternoon as 57-year-old David Dutch, of New Kensington, and 74-year-old James Copenhaver , of Moon Township. Both are in stable conditions. 

Family members paid tribute Comperatore who was well-known in the community.

His sister wrote on Facebook: 'The PA Trump Rally claimed the life of my brother, Corey Comperatore. The hatred for one man took the life of the one man we loved the most. He was a hero who shielded his daughters.'

The identified shooter, Crooks, was a registered Republican who had donated to President Biden in the past. A motive for why he attempted to take the life of former President Trump is still being investigated by law enforcement.  

'His wife and girls just lived through the unthinkable and unimaginable. My baby brother just turned 50 and had so much life left to experience. 

'Hatred has no limits and love has no bounds. Pray for my sister-in-law, nieces, my mother, sister, me and his nieces and nephews as this feels like a terrible nightmare but we know it is our painful reality.'

His daughter Allyson wrote on social media: 'He died a real-life super hero.'

'They are not going to tell you how quickly he threw my mom and I to the ground. They are not going to tell you that he shielded my body from the bullet that came at us.' 

'He loved his family. He truly loved us enough to take a bullet for us,' she continued in the emotional tribute.