A well-known US YouTuber who finds delight in making videos in which he exhibits unusual behaviour to scare others plans to continue making them, despite the fact that one of his targets allegedly shot him close to death.
Tanner Cook reportedly played a practical joke on a man at a mall in the Dulles, Virginia, outside of Washington at around lunchtime on Sunday for the almost 40,000 followers of the channel Classified Goons, as reported by the Guardian.
Authorities and an interview Cook gave to the neighbourhood TV station WUSA both claim that he was being recorded by a buddy when events took a nearly fatal turn.
Investigators said that the man, identified as 31-year-old Alan Colie, drew a gun and shot Cook in the stomach. Cook, 21, was in critical condition when first responders took him to the hospital, but he survived the wound and needed surgery.
“I was playing a … simple … joke, and this guy didn’t take it very well,” Cook told WUSA from his hospital bed.
Cook claimed the shooter “didn’t say anything” before opening fire on him, which according to authorities also sparked a panic among shoppers in the mall.
Colie, according to the report, was detained by police while seated in the food court of the mall near a gun. He was then charged on charges of aggravated malicious injuring, shooting while committing a crime, and firing a gun into an occupied structure.
Cook’s father, Jeramy, stated that they were certain he would make a full recovery. Jeramy Cook said to WUSA, “We live on faith, not fear.
According to Tanner Cook, he is not upset with Colie. He added that creating videos is his life’s passion and he has no intention of letting the shooting deter him.
