Tanner Cook, a 21-year-old YouTuber famous for his prank videos, was shot in the stomach by a man he had been pranking at a mall in Dulles, Virginia, on Sunday. Cook, who has almost 40,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, Classified Goons, was filming a prank when he offended a mall-goer named Alan Colie. The latter objected to the situation and then allegedly pulled out a gun and shot Cook in the liver and the stomach. Cook is currently is recovering in intensive care while Colie, who has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding, shooting in the commission of a felony, and discharging firearms within an occupied building, is being held at Loudoun County Adult Detention Center. Apparently, some of Cook’s previous work had shown his victims being aggressive toward him and his prankster friends.
Cook has confirmed that he would continue to shoot and post prank videos after the incident, despite the danger that comes with his job. His family said that the footage of the incident would be used as part of evidence against the suspect during the investigation. This is not the first time that a prank video has turned violent. In 2017, a man in Minnesota died while filming a prank video with his pregnant girlfriend. The idea was for her to shoot a book that he was holding over his chest, but he ended up receiving a bullet in his fatal injury.
The shooting at the mall has raised questions about the potential consequences of uploading prank videos online — primarily when they involve unsuspecting individuals. It is worth acknowledging that the line between what is appropriate and what is offensive or abusive is thin. Should there be a limit or regulation for what is uploaded as public content online? In the digital realm, material can be creative and funny, but it can also propagate hatred and harm. The community of YouTube users must take the responsibility to evaluate the viability of making and sharing these types of videos. Consequently, videos similar to Cook’s work might soon face increasing scrutiny, and the social-media outlets which broadcast these videos may eventually end up regulating or limiting what’s posted on their sites.
Cook’s case, unfortunately, reflects wider cultural and societal trends of trolling and bullying that have grown out of control in the age of the Internet. Cook himself has received threatening messages since the shooting, with some saying that he deserved to get shot for making his prank videos. At the same time, Cook’s videos have also earned him thousands of supporters who enjoy his content and appreciate his willingness to take risks in the name of humor or entertainment. However, as society and government begin to tune in to the implications of prank videos and other forms of online harassment and harm, creators like Cook might find their space to be more limited or challenged. The Internet is no longer a Wild West of anonymous online space and a critical means of expression for brave individuals. Today it represents risks and dangers that challenge our safety, respect, and the fundamental values that we aim to promote. For Cook and his community, this could represent a change that alters the course of their online activity, and not always for the better.
In this sense, we are not calling for the end of creative content online or the confinement of individuals’ rights to express themselves freely. Instead, we call for a more robust and responsible balance between humor and respect; between engaging and harming; between entertaining and violent. Only then can we keep our shared public spaces less hostile and dangerous places. In any case, Cook’s recent yet unfortunate experience with Colie might serve as a cautionary tale about the dangers of acting without considering the impacts of our actions on others. After all, what’s permissible and funny to you might end up lethal to others.
