James “Jim” Copenhaver, a Pennsylvania man who survived being shot at President Donald Trump’s campaign rally in Butler two years ago, has died, sources confirmed.
Copenhaver, 76, died in a hospital on Wednesday. He had survived the July 13, 2024, attack in which Trump was struck in the ear by a gunman’s bullet.
The shooting left Copenhaver with permanent, life-altering injuries. He was hit twice—once in the left arm and again in the abdomen.
A native of Moon Township, about 20 minutes from Pittsburgh, Copenhaver was initially in critical condition at Allegheny General Hospital. He later described being left with numbness from his knee to his hip.
Joseph Feldman, an attorney for the family, told Fox News at the time that Copenhaver was “a tough guy” for surviving the devastating injuries.
Ken Silva of Headline USA was the first to report Copenhaver’s death, citing people close to the family. Copenhaver had written the foreword to Silva’s book, The Trump Assassination Plots: What Investigations Missed and Why it Matters.
Silva said he had few details about the sudden death, but noted that Copenhaver had been living with lasting injuries from the Butler shooting, including bullet fragments that remained in his body.
In the foreword, which Silva shared on social media, Copenhaver wrote: “I’ve lived a good life, but most of it has been what I’d described as ‘uneventful’ in a grand historical sense.”
James “Jim” Copenhaver, 76, died on Wednesday under circumstances that have not been disclosed. He survived the July 13, 2024, rally shooting in which Trump was struck in the ear.
Copenhaver suffered permanent, life-altering injuries after being shot twice at the rally—once in his left arm and once in his abdomen. Trump is shown with blood on his face as Secret Service agents escort him from the stage in Butler.
Ken Silva said he had few details about Copenhaver’s death, but noted that he continued to deal with permanent injuries from the Butler shooting, including bullet fragments lodged inside his body.
House Republicans said they were “deeply saddened” by Copenhaver’s death after he was “gravely wounded” in the Butler shooting.
“Jim endured unimaginable hardship with strength and perseverance. 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 agency said.
In his foreword, Copenhaver reflected on raising his family, working for more than 30 years and performing in a band. He also considered how he would ultimately be remembered.
“Well, I got my answer… though taking a bullet meant for the President wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” he wrote.
Copenhaver described the events leading up to the moment “when I almost met my maker,” explaining that a friend had obtained their tickets to the rally.
After navigating the parking area and security checkpoints, the pair went to claim their seats. A staff member then told them they did not have the correct wristbands to sit directly in front of the podium.
“I asked if we could move to the bleachers; he said yes,” Copenhaver recalled. “Our move turned out to be nearly fatal.”
He also recalled that David Dutch, another survivor of the shooting whom he did not know, was seated just two places away from him.
“We felt pretty good about where we were seated,” Copenhaver wrote.
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‘I started taking pictures and filming about 6.03pm, unknowingly capturing the shooter on the roof of the AGR building at around 6.08pm.’
Copenhaver remembered how David Dutch, the other man who survived bullet wounds that day, was just two seats away from him
Copenhaver sued the US Government in June after he was forced to undergo a series of surgeries, including the closure of a traumatic abdominal wall hernia, laparotomy, laceration repair and transection of his colon
Copenhaver wrote that, as Trump’s speech ‘ramped up,’ he put his phone away before ‘seemingly out of nowhere’ he was shot in his left triceps.
‘I turned to Randy and said, “I think I have been shot,” when I was then hit a second time in my left abdomen,’ he wrote.
Copenhaver said he remembered little else from that day, but his long road to recovery stood before him.
‘I only just started physical therapy in the summer of 2025, and while I’ve been making progress, it hasn’t been easy,’ he wrote.
‘With a bullet lodged next to my spine, I’m going to have a diminished usage of my left leg for the rest of my life. It’s numb from just beneath the kneecap to the hip area. It just doesn’t feel like my leg.
‘I guess that’s the price of making history.’
Copenhaver sued the US Government in June after he was forced to undergo a series of surgeries, including the closure of a traumatic abdominal wall hernia, laparotomy, laceration repair and transection of his colon, Silva reported.
Upon his death, he continued to have fragments of the bullets in his body, according to Silva.
Copenhaver wrote that, as Trump’s speech ‘ramped up,’ he put his phone away before ‘seemingly out of nowhere’ he was shot in his left triceps
Thomas Matthew Crooks was named as Trump’s attempted assassin on July 13, 2024
Copenhaver’s wife, Marianne, will continue on with the suit, along with Dutch and his wife, seeking damages over the Secret Service’s alleged security failures.
According to Politico, the Senate Homeland Security and the House’s bipartisan task force found significant failures in the Secret Service’s plan to secure the rally as well as their response to the shooting.
Thomas Matthew Crooks was named as the attempted assassin.
On the anniversary of the incident, Trump said that the Secret Service ‘had a bad day’ and ‘made a mistake.’
He pointed to a lack of communication with local police as well as the failure to appoint an agent on the roof that Crooks fired from, Politico reported.
The Daily Mail reached out to Copenhaver’s family, who said they weren’t taking calls at this time, the White House and the Alleghany County Medical Examiner’s Office for comment.