James Copenhaver, the 76-year-old military veteran shot at the July 2024 Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, has died after more than two years of surgeries and permanent injuries, making him the second fatality from the assassination attempt.

Copenhaver died on September 23, 2026, at a Pittsburgh hospital, surrounded by his family, his attorney Joseph Feldman confirmed in a statement. The Allegheny County Office of the Medical Examiner confirmed the death to ABC News on Thursday, adding that the official cause and manner of death remain pending.

He never recovered. For more than two years, Copenhaver lived with bullet fragments still lodged in his body, endured multiple surgeries, and suffered pain that never left him. His death now ties him to Corey Comperatore, the 50-year-old firefighter killed on the day of the attack while shielding his family, as the second life lost to the July 13, 2024 shooting in Butler.

A 20-year-old gunman, eight shots, and three Americans down

On July 13, 2024, Thomas Matthew Crooks, a 20-year-old from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, climbed to the roof of a nearby building at a campaign rally for then-candidate Donald Trump and fired up to eight shots. Three spectators were struck. Trump was grazed in the ear. A Secret Service sharpshooter killed Crooks on the rooftop.

Comperatore died at the scene. David Dutch, a former Marine, took rounds to the chest and liver and was placed in a medically induced coma, according to the Marine Corps League of Pennsylvania. Copenhaver was described as gravely wounded. No official motive for the attack has been publicly established.

Dutch survived. Copenhaver survived that day, too. But as Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, Mayor Jondavid Longo told the New York Post, Copenhaver "never fully recovered from the wounds. For two years he lived with surgeries, remaining fragments, and pain that never left him."

That is the reality behind the word "survivor." Copenhaver spent 26 months carrying shrapnel in his body and cycling through operating rooms while the country moved on.

Feldman: Copenhaver faced every challenge 'with the same strength and resolve that defined his life'

Copenhaver's family, through attorney Joseph Feldman, asked the public to remember a man defined by service. Feldman described Copenhaver as a "devoted husband, father, and grandfather" and a veteran of the armed forces whose "dedication to this great country was a defining part of his life."

Feldman said Copenhaver and his family "have been deeply grateful for the outpouring of love, prayers, and support they have received over the past two years." He added:

"Throughout that difficult time, James faced every challenge with the same strength and resolve that defined his life, and the kindness shown by so many brought great comfort to him and to those who love him."

Copenhaver was a resident of Moon Township, a small community west of Pittsburgh. He went to a political rally on a summer Saturday and came home with wounds that would define, and ultimately end, the rest of his life.

The assassination attempt that day was not an isolated event in a broader pattern of political violence and threats against figures in Trump's orbit. Just this year, a Long Island man was charged with threatening to kill a U.S. attorney and referenced killing Trump, a reminder that the threat environment around the former and current president has not subsided.

Trump called Copenhaver a 'true American Patriot'

President Trump issued a statement on social media Thursday calling Copenhaver a "true American Patriot" and describing his death as a "tremendous loss."

"His indelible legacy of love and devotion will forever endure."

House Republicans posted a statement on X mourning Copenhaver's passing. The caucus said he "endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance" and added, "We join his family and loved ones in mourning his loss and praying for them during this difficult time. May he rest in peace."

The security concerns that surrounded the Butler rally have rippled through the years since. The Trump family continues to live under extraordinary protective measures, with Barron Trump residing behind bulletproof glass and security details amid ongoing foreign threats.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro also extended condolences Thursday. Shapiro said in a statement on X that "the political violence that occurred in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13, 2024 is never okay" and called on Americans to "take down the temperature, rise above hateful rhetoric, and search for a brighter future for this nation."

Copenhaver's death deepens the toll from Butler, and the questions that remain

Fox News reported that Copenhaver was a military veteran from Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, who suffered permanent injuries including bullet fragments that remained lodged in his body until his death. He underwent multiple surgeries over the two-year period and never returned to the life he had before July 13, 2024.

His passing raises the Butler rally's confirmed death toll to two. The medical examiner has not yet ruled on the cause and manner of Copenhaver's death. No official motive for the shooting has been disclosed publicly. The specific building Crooks used as his firing position has not been identified in public reporting.

Threats against political figures connected to the Trump administration have persisted well beyond the Butler shooting. Earlier this year, Yair Netanyahu was evacuated from the U.S. after an Iran-linked threat was identified, underscoring the ongoing danger in the current political environment.

David Dutch's current medical status was not addressed in reporting on Copenhaver's death. Whether Dutch still carries the injuries from that day, and what his long-term prognosis looks like, remains an open question two years later.

James Copenhaver went to a rally to hear a candidate speak. He spent two years paying for it. The people who create the laws and the people who run the agencies owe it to men like him to explain, fully and finally, how a 20-year-old with a rifle got onto that rooftop, and to make sure it never happens again.