Sun shines, skies are clear for Corey’s Cruise
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A dog sits on a motorcycle ready to go before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A dog sits on a motorcycle ready to go before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Lori Brown straps on her helmet before riding in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Around 1500 motorcyclists participated in a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A motorcyclist displays a large black and white American Flag with a thin red line those honors firefighters and the fire service for their sacrifice and courage during a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Helen Comperatore waves from a 1992 Ford Mustang LX convertible, with an automatic 5.0-liter engine as her family leads over 1000 motorcyclists during a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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Jerry and Karen Bowser bow their heads as a prayer was given to bless the bikes before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A blessing of the bikes was given before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A attendee bows his head as a prayer was given to bless the bikes before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
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A blessing of the bikes was given before a memorial motorcycle ride to honor fallen firefighter Corey Comperatore that started at Freeport Middle School on Saturday, July 12, 2025. Rob McGraw/Butler Eagle
RUSSELLTON — Helen Comperatore had been praying since March for good weather on the day more than 1,000 bikers would ride to celebrate her husband’s life.
“It was so beautiful today, watching all of those bikes. I was speechless. I kept thinking, my husband is staring down here in awe,” Helen Comperatore said.
According to the Saxonburg Volunteer Fire Company, over 1,500 motorcycles hit the road for Corey’s Cruise on Saturday, July 12, just one day before the anniversary of Corey Comperatore’s death.
Corey Comperatore, who attended a rally for then candidate President Donald Trump at the Butler Farm Show grounds, was killed by a stray bullet fired by gunman Thomas Matthew Crooks. He was hit while trying to shield his wife and two daughters, Allyson and Kaylee.
“Corey acted instantly. His instinct was to shield his family,” said Karin Lund, emcee for the post-motorcycle ride concert.
“This is a day of remembrance, and honoring how he lived. It’s a day to celebrate Corey’s legacy, and commit ourselves to the values he honored, like family, faith, service, community,” Lund said after the ride.
The thousand-some bikers, who came from Pennsylvania and beyond, began their journey to honor Corey Comperatore at Freeport Area High School, where motorcycles were lined up so far down the entrance way they wrapped around the middle school, on the other side of the campus.
A blessing of the bikes took place beforehand. At the event, people shared stories about Corey Comperatore. The Rev. Jonathan Fehl, Comperatore’s pastor at Cabot Methodist Church, talked about traits that made Comperatore a decent human being and loving husband and father.
“He loved his family. He loved being able to serve in formal ways, through the military, in the community, through the fire department, but his service was even more than that,” Fehl said. “He would serve random people he saw that needed help. He saw a neighbor collapse on a hot day as he drove by. He stopped the car, jumped out and performed CPR until the EMTs got there.”
He called Comperatore “practical,” and someone who was always prepared for anything. He was always determined to work on different projects and would blueprint everything out.
Fehl said Comperatore also had a tender side to him that not everybody always saw.
“When you were in a small group, you could hear his voice change when he talked about Allyson and Kaylee,” Fehl said.
The procession of bikers rode up Route 356 near Sarver, Cabot and Saxonburg, and back down toward Allegheny County.
They ended their journey across southeastern Butler and northern Allegheny counties, arriving at the No Offseason Sports complex in Russellton, where a day full of celebrating Corey Comperatore’s life continued. Motorcycles parked all across the baseball fields at the complex after driving underneath a giant American flag held up by two firetrucks.
“It brings tears to your eyes, when you see all of these people that love and care, and have all of this emotion behind them, and just why they’re here. It’s for a cause. And that’s what we need to do as a nation. We need to love one another more,” said Scott Wagner, a Corey’s Cruise volunteer.
The weather for the ride was hot — temperatures were in the 90s by the time it wrapped up in Russellton.
“Maybe not as hot,” Helen Comperatore joked about her weather hopes for today. “But it’s beautiful. And I’m so grateful that we get to have this celebration.”
“The girls and I just wanted to do something with Corey to celebrate him,” Helen Comperatore said in a speech after the ride. “This time last year, we were with him, and it was just a regular day with Corey. And in less than 24 hours, he would be gone. We just want to celebrate him today.”
