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YouTube prankster Tanner Cook was shot in Dulles Town Center Mall, Virginia, by a DoorDash delivery driver Alan Colie on April 2, 2023. The shooter has been acquitted of aggravated malicious wounding but remains jailed after jurors found him guilty of a lesser gun charge on September 28, 2023.
The 21-year-old's YouTube channel is filled with "Asking Strangers" videos and pranks that end with him getting in trouble or kicked out of places, as per AP News.
Among the two lesser gun charges, Alan was acquitted of using a firearm during the commission of a felony, but he has been found guilty of malicious shooting inside an occupied building, as per NBC.
Warning: This article includes an edited video of a shooting.
Netizens are giving mixed reactions to the news. While some believe shooting the prankster was out of line, others said that Cook should not have harassed the defendant.
YouTube prankster is shot while filming a video
On April 2, 2023, Alan Colie was picking up takeout for his DoorDash delivery order when he was approached by Tanner Cook, a YouTube prankster who runs the “Classified Goons” YouTube channel.
The video showed the 6 feet 5 inches tall YouTube prankster holding his phone near Alan's face while a recording repeatedly played, saying:
"Hey dipsh*t, quit thinking about my twinkle."
As per Fox News, the court reported to the jury that Alan Colie told Tanner to stop three times and tried to push the phone away from his face. When the YouTube prankster did not relent and kept walking towards Alan, he pulled out his gun and shot Cook once in the chest.
Alan Colie pleaded not guilty and his defense attorney, Adam Pouilliard has said that the DoorDash delivery driver was acting in self-defense, as per The Guardian.
After two days of testimony and almost five hours of deliberation, a jury sided with Alan Colie and found him not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding and using a firearm during the commission of a felony.
Netizens have reacted to the whole situation. Some think the verdict of acquittal is correct, while others think that shooting the YouTube prankster was too much.
Alan Colie was found guilty of firing a gun inside the mall. He faces a period of two to 10 years in jail.
Prosecutor's and defence attorney's arguments
Alan Colie's defense attorney, Adam Pouilliard said his client "felt menaced by the 6-foot-5 (1.95-meter-tall) Cook during the confrontation, which was designed to provoke a reaction and to draw viewers to Cook’s YouTube channel." He continued:
"Tanner Cook is trying to confuse people to post videos. He’s not worried that he’s scaring people. He keeps doing this.”
However, prosecutor Eden Holmes made the argument that the facts do not support Alan's self-defense stand as the law stated that the defendant should fear that he was in imminent danger of bodily harm and that he should have used no more force than necessary. She said:
"They were playing a silly phrase on a phone. How could the defendant have found that he was reasonably in fear of imminent bodily harm?”
A judge will hear arguments on the firearm charge on October 19.
According to Fox News, the YouTube prankster Tanner Cook has said that he will continue to make YouTube prank videos, which get him about $2,000 to $3,000 a month.
