Who is Tanner Cook? YouTuber shot while playing a prank

Tanner Cook is a 21-year-old YouTube star known mostly for his prank videos. He has a YouTube channel called Classified Goons with over 38K subscribers as of this writing. During a prank that went awry at the Dulles Town Center mall, he was shot and sustained serious injuries to his stomach and liver. As a result, Cook is now hospitalized in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Thankfully, the medical team is optimistic that he will make a full recovery.

He has shown signs of improvement and even spoke to the media from his ICU bed. Despite the seriousness of his injury, Cook said he intends to continue creating content because it's his passion.

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What exactly happened to Tanner Cook?

Although Tanner Cook is well known for creating prank videos, his latest attempt went sideways when he targeted the wrong person. On Sunday, Cook attempted to prank Alan Colie, a 31-year-old resident of Leesburg who was carrying a firearm.

Regrettably, Cook was shot during the troll. Colie was taken into police custody and charged with several serious offenses, including aggravated malicious wounding, using a firearm to commit a felony, and firing a weapon within a building.

Although the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office did not reveal the identity of the victim, court records and a judge at the Loudoun County General District Court hearing confirmed that Tanner Cook was the individual involved in the incident.

During Colie's arraignment, Cook's name was mentioned in open court.

Despite his injury, Tanner Cook spoke to the media about the incident and shed some light on what happened. He revealed that Alan Colie did not react well to the prank, which ultimately led to the shooting. He said:

"I was playing a prank and a simple practical joke, and this guy didn't take it very well."

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Here's what the internet had to say

The online community has reacted to the incident involving Tanner Cook, with YouTuber Jidon "JiDion" urging fellow pranksters to prioritize safety over content creation. This has sparked important conversations about responsible content creation:

Fans were curious about the nature of the prank that led to such a serious outcome:

Here are some other reactions:

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Tragically, this is not the first time a prank video has led to a shooting incident. In 2020, 20-year-old Timothy Wilks was shot and killed while allegedly participating in a "prank" robbery that was being filmed for a YouTube video.

This incident serves as a reminder of the potential risks and consequences of certain types of pranks, and highlights the importance of exercising caution and good judgment when creating content for social media platforms.