THE man who came within inches of assassinating Donald Trump honed his “dead-eye” gun skills on a shooting range just days before the attack.
And, in a world exclusive interview, a shooting practice classmate says he fears Thomas Crooks might have been “pushed over the edge” listening to the right-wing instructor ranting about how Trump was the best man for the White House.
Bill Jenkins, who has spoken to the FBI, told The Sun on Sunday: “I was sitting next to evil. I haven’t been able to sleep thinking about it.”
Crooks, who brought along his own 9mm handgun, was such a crack shot on the elite training course he blew a large hole in a shooting target with a volley of precision rounds using his weapon.
US Air Force veteran Bill, 62, also revealed he was questioned by the FBI about Crooks days after the assassination attempt.
Agents from the FBI’s Pittsburgh field office contacted him last Tuesday as they tried to piece together the shooter’s background and any possible motive.
Crooks, 20, came within inches of killing former President Trump with an AR-rifle at a political rally in Butler, Pennsylvania on July 13.
Crooks crawled on his belly along the roof of a nearby warehouse building and took aim as Trump spoke on the podium in front of thousands of supporters.
Trump, 78, was clipped in the ear by one of the bullets, but later said it was a “miracle” he was still alive after the attempt on his life which left one rally attendee dead and two critically injured.
Secret Service snipers killed Crooks and a massive security review is now underway.
Computer programmer Bill, who lives in Pennsylvania, said he has struggled sleeping since discovering he had met the shooter.
He said: “This guy killed a man with a wife and kids and almost plunged the country into chaos by killing Donald Trump.”
Bill and Crooks had signed up to the “intermediate handgun-pistol 2” class at Keystone Shooting Centre in Cranberry, Pennsylvania, on June 22.
The range is a 50-minute drive from Crooks’ home in Bethel Park.
Keystone’s website says the course is the “next level” of handgun training to teach students to “improve accuracy and distance through stance, grip and follow through.”
It added: “The course will also teach you how to prioritize (sic) multiple targets for maximum efficiency.”
Recalling meeting Crooks, Bill said: “It was just him, me and the instructor.
“The course went on for three hours and I could see this kid was confident with guns.
“When we went to the range he started shooting straight away, it seemed like he had experience with weapons.”
Bill says Crooks had brought his own gun to the class, which he believes was a 9mm handgun.
He said Crooks was dressed casually in jeans and a shirt, had long hair and glasses and seemed like a “quiet”, but “nice kid”.
Bill recalled: “He had a bag with him.
“We did some classroom stuff and then we got on to the range.
“I noticed on his target at ten yards he blew a big hole right through the centrepiece.
“I congratulated him on how good he’d done and he just laughed.”
The instructor then took them back into the classroom and Bill recalls how the conversation veered into politics.
He said: “It turns out the instructor and I are Trump supporters.
“We talked about how our country was good under Trump.
“Our borders were secure, the economy was strong, we were energy independent, and he got things done.
“I noticed at the time that the kid wasn’t saying anything one way or another but I could see him smirking.
“He had a little smile.
“Looking back, I think he was biting his tongue, nothing we discussed will have sat well with him.
“It’s crossed my mind — did that conversation help push him over the edge?
“It freaks me out a little because a person has died.
“I was sitting next to real evil there, it really scares me.”
It has emerged Crooks was a member of his local gun club in Bethel Park and more than a dozen guns were found at his family’s home.
Crooks, a loner with few friends who was bullied at high school, worked as a dietary aide at a nursing facility.
He was a registered Republican but once made a $15 (£12) donation to a Democratic political organisation.
The introverted computer whiz had just earned a spot on a college engineering programme.
A review of Crooks’ phone by the FBI found he had searched for images of President Joe Biden and Trump, and other famous figures — including the Princess of Wales — in the days before the shooting.
He had also looked up “major depressive disorder” on his phone, but didn’t seem to sign up to any extreme political views online.
More than a week after an event that has shocked the world, very little else is known as to what motivated Crooks to try to assassinate Trump.
It was only when the Pittsburgh field office of the FBI called me on Tuesday, while I was driving, and asked me about the class at Keystone that I found out
Bill Jenkins
Bill said he gave very little away during their three hours together: “At one point he mentioned his dad and guns and a gun club in my area. But that was about it.”
Incredibly, Bill admits he didn’t at first realise the man who had shot Trump was the very same man he trained alongside that day.
He said: “It was only when the Pittsburgh field office of the FBI called me on Tuesday, while I was driving, and asked me about the class at Keystone that I found out.
“The guy said, ‘The other person in the class with you was the assailant who shot Trump’ and I just flipped out.
“Once I looked at the pictures I could see it was him. The FBI asked me if he had a bag with him, which he did. He could have shot us in the range.
“He was very quiet, he didn’t engage with us, he wasn’t interested in contributing to many of the conversations, which was really odd.
“He tried to plunge the country into chaos. Maybe that’s what his motive was — he wanted to start a real catastrophe in this country.”
Keystone Shooting Range were contacted for comment.
The FBI declined to comment.
