US YouTube prankster shot in stomach following ‘practical joke’
A United States-based YouTube prankster was shot in the stomach on Sunday following what he called a “simple practical joke” he had played.
Despite the incident in Sterling, Virginia, Mr Tanner Cook told US news website WUSA9 that he would not stop creating such videos as it is his “passion”.
He and fellow pranksters on the Classified Goons YouTube channel often post videos of themselves antagonising strangers, such as by taking their belongings or engaging in disruptive behaviour while filming the victims of their pranks.
The content creators call themselves “just a couple of ‘bone heads’” on the channel, which has nearly 41,000 subscribers, with the last uploaded video on March 28.
Mr Cook, 21, was recording another of these videos when he was allegedly shot by Alan Colie, 31, reported WUSA9.
Loudoun County Sheriff Mike Chapman told the news site the shooting resulted from a fight that broke out between the two men in a food court in a mall.
One bullet pierced Mr Cook’s stomach and liver, with the gunfire causing panic among mall-goers.
The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office said its deputies found an adult male victim with a gunshot wound outside the mall after they arrived at the scene.
The victim was treated for injuries by the deputies and members of the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System and taken to the hospital. He remained in the intensive care unit through Monday with his mother by his side.
“At this time, it does not appear that the suspect and the victim were known to each other,” said the Sheriff’s Office, adding that the deputies on the scene also checked the entire mall to ensure no other suspects or victims were present.
In a now-deleted Instagram video purportedly of the incident, at least six policemen holding firearms can be seen approaching a man lying prone on the ground. An officer kicks away what appears to be a firearm before the group moves to arrest him.
Colie was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony and discharging a firearm within a building.
The mall was then shut down for the remainder of the day, and reopened on Monday.
“I was playing a prank and a simple practical joke, and this guy didn’t take it very well,” Mr Cook told WUSA9 from his hospital bed. “He didn’t say anything to me.”
When Colie allegedly pulled out his gun, Mr Cook’s friend was recording a video, which is now part of evidence in the case.
Mr Cook’s father, Jeramy Cook, described the shooting as shocking and unnecessary.
“They were making a video at the mall and trying to have fun with people and this guy wasn’t having fun,” he said.
“There was a phone that was around him and they were interviewing or talking to him, and he didn’t like it and he pulled out his gun and shot my son.”
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