Tanner Cook, 21, told WUSA9 from his hospital bed he was playing a practical joke on a man later identified by authorities as Alan Colie, 31, for his YouTube channel, Classified Goons.
Colie didn't take well to Cook's joke, the prankster told the outlet. And so, he opened fire, Cook said.
Cook suffered gunshot wounds to his stomach and liver, and as he recovers, his haters spam the comment section of his Instagram page with jabs like, "Was it worth it?" and "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes."
Colie, of Leesburg, has been charged with aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm within a building, the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office said.
It wasn't the first time Cook upset his victims. One video posted to his YouTube channel titled "Angry Guy Charges Cameraman!" opens with Cook saying he didn't have a main idea, instead, he'd simply be doing "troll bits."
He pairs up with fellow YouTuber Too Apree to hide in shelves at a warehouse, film people in a library apparently without their permission, approach restaurant patrons and more.
A TikTok video that had garnered 1.1M views as of April 5 showed Cook pretending to be harassed by the person behind the camera. He proceeds to try to use the radio of the security guard, who quickly becomes the butt of the joke.
"Low key deserved," one Instagram user commented in response to the shooting. "Stop f—ing with people kid."
"Think it’s time to start staging your pranks instead of harassing strangers for cheap views," another said.
Neither Cook nor his father, Jeramy Cook, were immediately available for comment when Daily Voice reached out Wednesday morning, April 5.
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