RIVERSIDE COUNTY, Calif. – The uncle of the man who was killed at a Trump rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on Saturday is remembering him as a hero. 

Corey Comperatore, 50, died after diving in front of his wife and daughter to protect them from bullets flying toward the crowd. 

“He was a hero. As a fireman and as a father,” said Comperatore’s uncle, Tom Fuhrman.

Fuhrman, who lives in Riverside County, is a former Menifee City Councilman.

Comperatore was his brother’s stepson. Fuhrman told FOX 11 that he was shocked to learn that nearly a half dozen members of his family were at the Trump rally on Saturday, and were in harm’s way. 

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Comperatore and his family were seated behind Trump when the 20-year-old shooter began firing a barrage of bullets from a rooftop aimed at Trump. 

“When he heard the shots, he just kind of dove over his daughter and his wife to protect him, putting his body in front of them in case a bullet would fly their way. And he was unlucky to be hit by one of the bullets. And I think he was killed instantly, and he was taken out of the stands. And I think some of the footage was seen on television,” Fuhrman explained. 

Just two days after the tragic shooting, he struggled to put one foot in front of another and to make sense of it all, that his brother Dennis had lost his son in such a violent way. He said he had communicated only briefly with his brother, who is so deep in grief that funeral arrangements are still pending. 

Fuhrman said he hopes Trump will be present at the funeral when it happens. 

“I’ll remember him through the words of my brother… that I loved them like a son. And that’s good enough for me. My brother loves somebody. I love them, too,” Fuhrman said holding back tears.