YouTuber known for pranks shot in the abdomen while filming at a mall, suspect arrested
A YouTuber known for pranking people was shot at a Washington, D.C.-area mall on Sunday. Tanner Cook, who appears on the "Classified Goons" YouTube channel, said he was playing a prank when a man shot him.
The Loudoun County Sheriff's Office in Virginia arrested 31-year-old Alan W. Colie for allegedly shooting the 21-year-old Cook at Dulles Town Center Mall Food Court, the sheriff's office said in a statement. 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 gunshot caused panic in the mall and when police arrived, they found Cook outside with a gunshot wound to his abdomen. Cook was transported to the hospital, where he spoke with CBS News' Washington D.C. affiliate WUSA.
"I was playing a prank and a simple practical joke, and this guy didn't take it very well," he said, adding that the shooter didn't say anything to him. Cook's friend had the camera rolling during the shooting, and the footage is now evidence in the investigation.
Footage also captured police arresting Colie at the mall and has gone viral on social media. The shooting happened around 11:57 a.m. and the mall was closed for the remainder of the day, the sheriff's office said.
"Classified Goons" play pranks in public, like taking people's groceries from their shopping carts or pretending to vomit in an Uber, and film them for YouTube, where they have 41.5K subscribers. It's not clear what prank Cook was playing.
Cook's father, Jeramy Cook, said the YouTubers were just trying to have fun and the shooting was unnecessary. "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," he told WUSA. The two did not know each other prior to the incident, the station reported.
Tanner Cook told WUSA he has no ill will and he will not stop making his videos.
