A YouTube content creator was left fighting for his life after he was shot amid claims he played a “simple prank” on a complete stranger inside a mall.
Tanner Cook, 21, was filming at the Dulles Town Center mall in Virginia when a confrontation broke out with Alan Colie, 31, of Leesburg, Virginia, and he was shot.
Cook was left in intensive care for several days after a bullet slammed through his stomach and liver.
It is not clear what Cook was up to this time, but he has previously pretended to vomit on an Uber driver and asked strangers to play naked Twister.
Colie was arraigned on Monday, April 3, accused of aggravated malicious wounding, the use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm inside a building.
Cook spoke after undergoing surgery, and said he had been playing a joke on Colie for another video.
He said: “I was playing a prank and a simple practical joke, and this guy didn’t take it very well.”
Cook created content for an account called Classified Goons, which has around 40,000 subscribers.
Sheriff Mike Chapman said the shooting resulted from a fight that broke out, with a video recorded by an Instagram showing Colie being arrested.
Cook’s friend had been recording the video when Colie allegedly pulled out his gun.
The YouTuber’s father Jeremy Cook said: “They were making a video at the mall and trying to have fun with people and this guy wasn’t having fun.”
He added: “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.
“I pray for this young man and pray that he finds God in this. I believe that God saved our son’s life, and he could have easily died but that’s not the outcome. God has plans for my son.”
The Virginia mall reopened Monday, April 3, after being shut down for a day.