The tiny town of Sarver, Pennsylvania , seemed to be holding its breath on Wednesday as dark clouds rolled over the unincorporated community located at the southern edge of Butler County.
The clouds only added to the somber atmosphere as residents mourned the death of former Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Chief Corey Comperatore, who was shot and killed as he attended a rally for former President Donald Trump in the northern portion of the county on Saturday.
Driving into the municipality, the grief was almost tangible, hitting like a gut punch. Around half a dozen houses bore "Trump 2024" flags, which defiantly whipped in the ever-strengthening winds. All the American flags were flying at half-staff, however, per an order from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, and the country roads traversing the town were quiet — almost too quiet.
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A gravel driveway led up to the Buffalo Township Volunteer Fire Company's firehouse, which was situated in a small woodsy alcove just off one of the town's main roads. Personal vehicles lined the side of the small lot, and toward the back, a large garage-style building housed the firetrucks and other emergency vehicles, all of which were parked neatly inside.
Black ribbons lined the front of all the vehicles, with neat bouquets of red flowers in teh middle of the ribbons. A massive black ribbon hung underneath the words "Buffalo Township VFC" embossed on the front of the building, dropped over the department's emblems on either side of the words.
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Inside, the atmosphere was bleak — a group of about three volunteers stood chatting between two of the large red engines, but their conversation wasn't animated. Sadness creeped into their voices.
The men told TheMirror.com that they were done answering questions for the time being, that Wednesday was a day for them to be together as a firehouse and mourn the death of their colleague and former chief, who was a staple in the community.
With less than 24 hours before Comperatore's memorial service — which is being held in Freeport, a borough about 6 miles south of Sarver, also located in Buffalo Township — the volunteers with the Buffalo Township VFC just wanted to mourn their brother.
Comperatore's jacket, which once hung on the front of the building as a memorial to him, was missing on Wednesday. The firefighters said it had been flown to the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for the night, though what the plan was for when it arrived wasn't clear.
The 50-year-old husband and father's boots and other equipment remained on the floor near two buckets filled with flowers, however, in another makeshift memorial for the compnay's fallen comrade.
Up the street from the company, tucked behind a wall of trees and up a small hill, is the Sarver Veterans' Club. The vibes inside were similarly somber, with a group of veterans huddled around the small bar in the center of the large room, chatting away.
The bartender smoked a cigarette nonchalantly, looking out over his customers and engaging in conversation with them. Nobody seemed to be laughin — the atmosphere was almost tired.
The bartender told TheMirror.com he had know Comperatore his whole life but wouldn't elaborate more, nor would any of the patrons. The grief in the air hung over the room like the darkening clouds outside.
Approximatley 6 miles down the road, the small borough of Freeport was almost empty, with hardly a soul out and about. Driving into the town, a sadness seemed to linger over the homes, a couple of which flew "Trump 2024" flags.
The borough's mayor, Zack Gent, told TheMirror.com that he anticipates a lot of traffic in the coming days, however — Freeport is where the memorial service for Comperatore will be held, with public memorial from 2-4 p.m. and 6-8 p.m. on Thursday at Laube Hall, the town's community center that's located on Community Park Road.
Reports indicate that former President Donald Trump is expected to attend the private funeral for the firefighter, of which the details are unknown. While the memorials and visitation hours at Laube Hall are open to the public, the actual funeral is not.
At 2 p.m. on Thursday, a procession will take place through the town as well, ending at Laube Hall, that will include members of Comperatore's fire company.
Gent said the borough's residents are doing everything they can to help the Comperatore family mourn its loved one and that they're being told to be patient amid traffic and parking restrictions.
He said the event, however, is much less about the assassination attempt on the former president and is instead "100% about mourning the loss of a local resident and making sure that it's done in the proper fashion."
"That’s what I care about as mayor more than anything is that the family of Corey is able to mourn in the proper way," Gent said. "We’re a community [where] we look out for our neighbors, and we get by with help from our friends. And it’s not something that you would want to see happen in Freeport because of the circumstances, but we want to make sure that we’re able to provide what the family needs."
He added, "We are accepting of an event that is not typical so that the family can bury their loved one in a way that they want to bury their loved one."
Gent said he feels the vibe in his town and across Pennsylvania and the entire nation is "somber" as everyone comes together to mourn the loss of Comperatore.
"The world lost a good man, and a wife lost her husband, and two girls lost their father. I think that the feeling is what you would expect it to be," he said. "There’s a lot of shock that goes with it because this is a national event."
But he emphasized that the most important thign for him and the borough is making sure the family mourns in the way it chooses.
"People are upset. It’s heartbreaking. But we band together, and we do what we need to once again so that the family can mourn in the way — we want to make sure the family can mourn in the way that they wish to," Gent said.
He concluded, "Anybody would expect a vibe that is very somber. People were shaken up. This isn’t something that anybody would have predicted would happen. Western Pennsylvania is a tight-knit community regardless of where you go. Losing anybody is like losing somebody that’s personal to you."
Leaving Freeport, it began to pour, the torrential rains almost instantly flooding the small valley and the highways leading out of it. Gallons of water poured from the sky and ran down the streets.
It was as if the heavens themselves were crying, mourning the loss of Comperatore as his family and the entire community grieves.
A community moving forward
On Wednesday, the northern portions of Butler County, including the area at which the deadly rally was hosted, seemed ready to move forward from the tragedy that rocked the region on Saturday.
But memories of the event lingered in the form of police cruisers stationed around the still-closed Butler Farm Show, Inc., and a few media vehicles still parked at the Sheetz gas station and convenience store near the fairground.
Bright orange cones lined the entrances to driveways around the venue, blocking anyone from entering. At some of the driveways, Pennsylvania State Troopers sat stationed at the front, monitoring traffic, ready to block any unauthorized persons from entering the grounds and impeding the ongoing investigation.
At the front entrance to the fairgrounds, state troopers were allowing select media personnel into the venue to grab equipment that was left there, but they seemed to be required to get in and get out quickly.
A cleanup effort seemed to be made as well, with several garbage bags seen inside the gates around the fairground filled with rally memorabilia — signs and water bottles left behind by the participants who were forced to evacuate quickly.
It wasn't immediately clear what the state of that investigation was early Wednesday afternoon, as the police were barred from sharing details. They simply sat in their vehicles at the venue's main entrances.
Rain poured down in random spurts throuughout the area, soaking the fields and turning what was bone-dry, somewhat dusty earth on Sunday into mud. The massive American flag that once hung from two cranes over the fairgrounds had been taken down, as had the spotlights that once stood opposite it.
Police tape remained in place around some private, residential driveways, preventing anyone from entering residents' yards or blocking their driveways. Most of the tape lining several side streets had been taken down, however.
All the roads that had once been closed to traffic had been reopened around the faigrounds, with only the roads leading into the venue itself still blocked off.
The real-life cowboy who once camped out in front of the Sheetz was no longer sititng in his tall red chair on the side of Meridian Road, and his truck wasn't immediately visible in the parking lot, either.
Neighborhood still in shock
In a quaint, unassuming neighborhood some 40 miles south of Butler, a police vehicle blocks off a residential street on one side as yellow police tape prevents access on the other.
Some residents take walks around the neighborhood, and as they pass the closed-off street, they pause for a moment, looking down it to gauge the state of the ongoing investigation into the home of Thomas Matthew Crooks, the 20-year-old who fired an AR-15 toward Trump at the rally on Saturday, grazing the former president's ear, killing Comperatore and critically injuring two others before a Secret Service sniper took him out.
Much of the media frenzy had subsided by Tuesday afternoon, with just a few reporters still stationed outside the home. All but about two cops had left the area, though one told TheMirror.com that the federal authorities were still investigating the home. It wasn't clear at the time if any were inside it.
Most of the residents had gone back their usual routines, with things mostly back to normal after many were kicked out of their homes at 11 p.m. on Saturday, not allowed to return until around 9:45 p.m. the following day. Other residents were forced to shelter inside their homes for hours that night, too.
But many of the residents are still reeling from the investigation that rocked their community. One local, Suzie, said it was "shocking" when she found out the suspect was from Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Butler, where the shooting happened, is about 35 miles north of Pittsburgh.
She told TheMirror.com that it was even more shocking when she discovered that the suspect was from her immediate neighborhood.
"Obviously, you don’t want to see that where you’re from, but [we] didn’t know anything about the family," the 33-year-old said, adding that her ignorance gave her a bit of security. "I know a lot of people in this neighborhood, and everyone’s very friendly, but it was just weird to see that it was so close to home."
She said she woke up on Sunday morning to the cops swarming the street just around the corner from where she lives, which she described as "off-putting" and "scary."
"We’re all very friendly, and all of our neighbors are great, and we’ve had no problems in the past," she said. She's lived in the area for most of her life, she said, and has been a resident of that immediate neighborhood of Bethel Park for about five years.
She said the community is "pretty close-knit," that she knows most of her direct neighbors. But the mother said she had never met or seen the Crooks, even in the many times she said she'd walked by their home in the past.
Nothing stood out to her about the house, however, she said, as she added that she didn't necessarily get an odd vibe from it. With the swarm of federal agents now gone from the neighborhood and there still being cops on the street, she said she feels safe — and that she believes she'll continue to feel safe once they leave.
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