This is the first in a series of articles reflecting on the assassination attempt that happened in Butler County on July 13, 2024. More stories about the event that shook Butler County and the nation to its core will follow and include a special Sunday edition.

Those interested in reading more about the Butler Eagle’s coverage of the July 13 rally and its aftermath can purchase a 56-page book, “Meeting the Moment” for $20 by calling 724-431-2200 or visiting the Butler Eagle office at 514 West Wayne Street, Butler. A webpage to buy the event is forthcoming.

An eager crowd, much larger than those at most summer events in Butler County, gathered and waited all day in sweltering heat under a blazing sun.

Emergency medical personal from several departments and agencies who don’t normally work together were thrust into a team situation to help more than 200 people who had heat-related problems.

And soon after the event started, three people were shot and another killed in one man’s attempt to kill the man everybody came to see — the man who would go on to become president for a second time.

Emergency services dispatchers, the county’s “first first responders” as 911 director Rob McLafferty calls them, leaned into their training on July 13, 2024, to handle all the challenges that arose that infamous day when an assassin struck at President Donald Trump’s pre-election rally at the Butler Farm Show grounds in Connoquenessing Township.

“They responded like they did it everyday,” McLafferty said.

They took calls about heat exhaustion early in the day, and later, a slew of calls came in about gunshot wounds.

“Gunshot wound ... Gunshots at the Trump rally... gunshots,” one caller said. Her panicked voice came through the phone in fragments.

“Yes, police are on the way there,” a dispatcher replied.

“Better get over here quick,” the voice on the call answered before the end of the recording.

In another phone call, the wife of one of the shooting victims —James Copenhaver, 74, of Moon Township — called to learn about his condition and location.

“Don’t hang up,” the dispatcher told her in the call.

“I won’t,” the woman replies.

McLafferty, who said he was proud of his team’s actions on that day, used a military reference to summarize the training the dispatchers receive.

“Train like you’re going to fight. Fight like you trained,” McLafferty said.

Chris Beck, emergency services quality assurance officer, was working that day and saw the dispatchers rise to the occasion.

“You could definitely tell everyone on the room was heightened, but no one showed it,” Beck said.

Shawn Smith, one of the eight dispatchers working July 13, said it was a tough day.

“It was a bit more stressful than usual. The entire day leading up to the actual rally, due to the heat, there was a lot of people having heat-related emergencies and overwhelming the EMS system,” he said.

Most of attention from the rally was focused on the tragic result of the assassination attempt. Trump was grazed by a bullet, while Buffalo Township firefighter and former fire chief Corey Comperatore was killed and two other spectators were severely injured by shots fired by 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks of Bethel Park. Crooks was shot and killed by authorities.

What’s lost in recalling the events of the day is that medics treated 251 patients, McLafferty said. Most of the patients were treated for minor heat-related issues and released at the scene, but six were taken by ambulance to Butler Memorial Hospital.

Aware of the risks of heat exposure, cooling tents were set by EMS West, a regional emergency medical assistance agency. The Indiana-based Special Medical Response Team brought its team of doctors, nurse practitioners and medics. In addition, Butler Ambulance Service had four ambulances and a supervisory unit on the ground and volunteer fire departments sent their ambulances.

Five fire departments, the county parks and recreation department and the county emergency services unit brought all-terrain vehicles to transport patients to treatment areas at the site.

The county emergency service unit came with doctors and medics to treat any police officer who might have struggled with the heat and another medical team was on hand in case any of the county’s hazardous materials team had heat-related problems.

Because firefighters, ambulance crews and police left their service territories to work at the rally, others had to cover those territories — or “backfill” — to respond to emergencies, McLafferty said. Some of the ambulance services that backfilled during the rally came from other counties, he said.

Emergency services, hospital officials and police met with the U.S. Secret Service, which was in charge of the event, to develop a game plan for the various agencies and departments that do not usually work together, McLafferty said.

“It was really a huge combined effort,” McLafferty said.

The early arrival of Trump supporters was a surprise, despite all the planning.

“By the time we got there at 8 a.m., people were already in line,” McLafferty said.

Ten hours passed before Trump took the stage at 6 p.m. and spoke to the huge crowd.

“Folks were standing in line all day in that heat. Normally, folks aren’t standing in line for hours,” McLafferty said.

Beck said emergency services is accustomed to large events, such as the county fair, but they don’t draw as many visitors as Trump’s rally did.

By the time Trump took the stage at 6 p.m., thousands of people had been there for upward of 10 hours, McLafferty said.

The 911 center was intentionally overstaffed that day, but as the afternoon heat faded, some of the dispatchers had left at 6 p.m.

Then, some of them returned after learning about the shooting.

“As a team, the eight of us collaborated and worked together once things drastically changed,” Smith said. “Everybody had a task. We stayed on the task, we answered every call and moved on to the next emergency just like we would do everyday.”

The weight of what took place that day didn’t sink in at the 911 center until afterward.

“We’re fortunate to have the staff we have here. Everybody functioned like a well-oiled machine,” Beck said. “I would start to tell somebody something, and they would finish my sentence.”

Few people also realize that dispatchers helped reunifying families that got separated when the farm show was evacuated following the shooting, McLafferty said.

He said he is proud of how the 911 staff, fire departments, ambulance crews and police performed that day.

An “after action review” of the work of the first responders actions conducted sometime after the rally found no major flaws, but did reveal issues with barricades and the placement of the responders at the rally. Those corrections will be used in planning of future events, McLafferty said.

Smith said some of his co-workers and colleagues struggle with post-traumatic stress disorder and related mental health issues that were exacerbated by the rally.

“Once I unfortunately witnessed my co-workers and colleagues mental health decline at a rapid pace, I knew we had to do something after July,” Smith said.

At the same time, he said he was looking for an activity for Stanley, his family’s 3-year-old golden retriever. Stanley, short for Lord Stanley Pup, a name his hockey-loving family came up with, is intelligent, energetic, easily trained and loves making people happy, he said.

After the rally, emergency service administrators had two therapy dogs visit the dispatchers. Those dogs brightened up the room and lifted everyone’s spirits, Smith said.

It was then when he decided to train Stanley to be a therapy dog to help his fellow public safety workers.

He and Stanley spent a few months training with a therapy dog training school in California and getting basic obedience training. Smith said he took a 16-hour online course in dog therapy.

“It’s been well worth it so far,” Smith said. “He’s been well received by everyone we’ve met.

“It's about my colleagues and my friends that are all police officers, firefighters, paramedics, dispatchers. It’s not about my dog. It’s not about me. It’s about them and their mental health, improving their mental health.”