KOMPAS.com – A video showing the moments of a YouTuber doing a “prank” at the mall and then being shot, went viral on social media.
The shooter was Alan Colie (31), a food delivery courier who was allegedly disturbed by the YouTuber’s prank.
Meanwhile, the prank YouTuber who was shot was Tanner Cook (21).
The shooting incident that Colie committed against Cook occurred on April 2, 2023 at a mall in Virginia, United States.
Cook is the owner of the YouTube account Classified Goons with 56,000 subscribers.
He used to show prank videos pretending to vomit on Uber drivers and following unsuspecting customers through department stores.
Cook admitted to earning up to 3,000 US dollars or around Rp. 46 million a month from this channel. A video of the moments of the “prank” action that led to the shooting can be seen here.
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The shooting action was supported by netizens, defended by a jury
After the incident went to trial, last week, the jury found Colie not guilty of the shooting. The jury sided with his claim that Colie acted in self-defense.
Apart from that, netizens on social media also supported Colie, who was said to have a permit to carry a concealed weapon. Netizens also criticized Cook for harassing foreigners with his pranks.
The shooting incident occurred after Cook harassed Colie in the Dulles Towne Center mall food court. At that time, Colie finished taking the food order, while Cook followed him while playing a strange sound on his cellphone.
Disturbed by the prank, Colie tried to get away from Cook, and told him to stop three times.
Colie also tried to move the cellphone away from his face before finally taking out a gun and shooting Cook in the lower left chest.
The shooting sparked panic, and shoppers fled what they feared was a mass shooting.
Also read: Doing self-hanging prank, boy in India dies caught in rope
Admits self-defense
After the incident, the police then arrested Colie. He was charged with wounding another person, use of a firearm, and using it in a building.
However, many people on social media supported Colie and said that Cook was harassing foreigners.
Then at trial Thursday (28/9/2023), the jury found Colie not guilty of serious injuries in the shooting.
In his defense, Colie, who has a permit to carry a concealed weapon, admitted that he acted in self-defense, quoted from Daily Mail.
He was only found guilty of a lesser charge, namely shooting inside a building.
Colie’s lawyer, Adam Pouilliard, said his client felt threatened by Cook, who is 1.95 meters tall.
Cook was also accused of carrying out confrontations designed to provoke a reaction in order to attract viewers to his YouTube channel.
Pouilliard said that by carrying out such actions, Cook was trying to confuse people to produce prank videos on his channel.
“He wasn’t worried that he was scaring people and he kept doing this,” he said.
Prosecutor: Cook’s prank was odd but not threatening
However, prosecutor Eden Holmes thought differently. According to him, Colie’s shooting of Cook did not qualify as self-defense.
Plus, he said, Cook’s joke was odd but not threatening.
He also said that the law requires that Colie must be reasonably concerned that he would be in danger of bodily harm, and requires that he not use more force than necessary.
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2023-10-03 13:52:00
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