YouTube Prankster Shot After Failed Stunt (2023)

That's A Crime
Episode 54: YouTube Prankster Shot After Failed Stunt (2023)

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down the true crime story of the YouTube Prankster Shot After Failed Stunt in 2023. On April 2, 2023, 21-year-old YouTube prankster, Tanner Cook, attempted to play a practical joke on 31-year-old, Alan Colie in a mall in Sterling, VA. However, Colie, who didn't know Cook, pulled out a pistol and shot Cook striking him in the stomach and liver.

Recorded: 04-10-23
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Jason Connell: 0:01

Whoa, just curious. Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:10

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 0:12

All right, so we are back with another crime.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:17

Yeah. And the subject matter is, I don't know if I would say something after my own heart because I've, I'm not a prankster as we will see. But I love the topic. I really do.

Jason Connell: 0:26

Yes, I knew that you would. And I'm happy to explore this with you. Because today we are breaking down the True Crime Story of the YouTube prankster shot after failed stunt. And 2023.

Sal Rodriguez: 0:39

Rough shot.

Jason Connell: 0:41

Yeah, shot. So we do cover everything from a misdemeanor to a murder. We've had a few dark ones recently, a few sprinkled in some lighter things. But this one, I'm happy to say that not a death. I'm gonna go ahead and share that now to kind of set the stage. That's good. But it is interesting. And a lot of these crimes recently Sout are very recent. So it seems that they come up on my radar. And it's like, well, this is a good one. I know when we started this whole show. I was sprinkling in more of the classics, right? Because he just started something new is like where do we begin? And I've really kind of fallen in this lane of more recent crimes. The more I discover, the more I research, the more new stuff pops off the page. It's unbelievable. So that crimes all stop

Sal Rodriguez: 1:29

no crimes. Will you know what, Jason? I'm willing to wager that crimes will never stop in our lifetime.

Jason Connell: 1:36

Ah, man. Well, I guess we'll keep on going.

Sal Rodriguez: 1:39

We'll always have a show.

Jason Connell: 1:42

Well, let's get to this crime. On April 2 2023, YouTube prankster 21 year old Tanner Cook was attempting to play a simple practical joke on a man in a Virginia mall, but instead was shot in the stomach, which was not part of the stunt. Now, so as shocking as this is, I can't say I'm overly surprised based on the number of pranksters there are now mixed with all the shootings, unfortunate shootings we've seen in recent years.

Sal Rodriguez: 2:17

Yeah, it's like a bad mix. Like pranks are on the rise. shootings are on the rise. Yeah, here we are. Where the two converge? Yeah, yeah, not good. And just to be clear, I want to say sort of as a disclaimer, Jason, I love pranks. I'm a big fan of pranks. You don't like getting shot though? No, no, not a fan of being shot. But you know, my love for pranks goes back to Canada camera. Oh, Alan font. Yes. And there used to be a show called totally hidden video.

Jason Connell: 2:42

Totally hidden. Many. There's

Sal Rodriguez: 2:43

been a lot of shows over the years that show green did a lot of funny thing. Yes, yes. And then of course, a lot of the Jackass stuff also can be camera as well. I like the idea of hidden camera. What would you do? Hey, John, can Jonas we can't do it with Han. Yes, Ashton Kutcher. I like pranks a lot. But unfortunately, as we're seeing recently, they can be dangerous.

Jason Connell: 3:06

Yeah. Well, so I'm glad that you like pranks, because I'm not recording. Having fun.

Sal Rodriguez: 3:12

I didn't hit record either.

Jason Connell: 3:14

You got me. Oh, man. Well, you're also a YouTuber, and you like pranks or any I haven't done a deep enough dive on your channel. We're gonna unplug the channel for so.

Sal Rodriguez: 3:25

Yeah, that's a Salvador Los Angeles channel. that's all one word Salvador Los Angeles on YouTube for reviews, mainly toy related content and recently just curious media associated content with let's talk Cobra Kai, and let's talk Cobra Kai and Karate Kid collectibles. So yeah, my channel is all over the place. But listen, Jason says any pranks I got to know. Okay, hang on. That's what I was gonna get at my highest rated video on my channel is not a review. It's not a toy review. It's a captured moment of a child in Toys R Us who climbed the top of the shelves and was acting a fool at Toys R Us and you build up there? Yes, I happen to be there. It was actually a vertically filmed i was i ahead of the curve. It was a vertical video where I captured this boy acting crazy. And on top of the crazy kid of Toys R Us. It's gotten over a million views. It was actually licensed by a game show. They wanted to reference it for their game show I think on Nickelodeon or something like that. But the point is, yes, I'm a big fan of pranks also captured footage. As I've as I hold on. It's real stuff. Shenanigans. Yeah, so yeah, but you see that it can get into a dangerous scenario.

Jason Connell: 4:39

So I think that may be part of your calling. Go out there and capture real life people. Go nuts.

Sal Rodriguez: 4:48

I will be happy to do that. I would actually be happy to do that as a side career. No, but you got to kind of just like be in the right place at the right time. Yeah, you're right. Yeah. But no, it sounds great. I would do it.

Jason Connell: 4:59

Well, now the good news In this crime for our prankster is that cook survived. I said that early just so there's, you know, not too much panic about his condition. But he survived the gunshot and said the following from his hospital bed in the intensive care unit. I was playing a prank a simple practical joke, and this guy didn't take it very well and shot me.

Sal Rodriguez: 5:22

Oh my god. Yeah, that sums it up. Wow. We don't know what the practical joke is yet. No, we learn what the practical joke is.

Jason Connell: 5:31

I'm gonna go ahead and default just as well, no, we never learned but we do get into more of the practical jokes that they've done historically, because it's cooking friends. So we'll delve into that more. And I know you looked at their YouTube channel and saw some things and we're laughing I noticed me laughing.

Sal Rodriguez: 5:48

You heard me laughing while you were doing a tech check. A lot of their videos are pretty funny. Again, I'm a big fan of pranks. You know, as long as everybody walks away, nobody gets hurt. I'm a big fan. Again, you start to cross the line here. We're in a dangerous zone got shots. That's very dangerous. But overall, yeah, big fan of pranks and their channel. I have to admit there was a lot of funny stuff on there.

Jason Connell: 6:09

Well, now that you've mentioned it, let's get into it. Cook runs the YouTube channel, classified goons, which features him doing Jackass style pranks on unsuspecting people. As for their following, they currently have 48.3 1000 subscribers and have posted 38 videos. But there is not one of this unfortunate incident. Now, so I know that you hadn't heard of them prior because we talked about this before coming on air. But tell us you know what was making you laugh? What was funny on the classified goons channel.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:49

There was one video where these guys dressed up as clowns. I mean full on clown regalia with wigs and noses and makeup. And they start driving around in those little scooters that they have available for you in Walmart. They start riding around the scooter as clowns. One guy is in the front basket, then they start doing donuts in the middle of the store. It is like jackass. Yeah, it is. And then they get approached by security, they get approached by a very stern manager. Okay, and it's hilarious to watch and it appears that that they can walk away and everybody's fine. Now, at the end of that video, I think the police were legitimately on their way. And it almost seems like these guys actually taught and back in the police. They're not afraid of the police. You know where I come from, you don't have a new generation. So it is it's a new generation where you're like stand up to the cops in their face. Where I come from that could be dangerous or deadly. These guys invite the police to come and erase them. In fact, in one scene, they are right there literally just being smart aleck, with the police in the clown costume. So very hilarious stuff. Again, a big fan of pranks and I'm glad that there is no death in this situation.

Jason Connell: 7:49

Yeah. Well, I read and then I looked at the videos later, some of them, but they had done some things like pretending to urinate in stores or asking strangers to play naked Twister. Oh, fake vomited on an Uber driver. Wait, did you say these? No, I read these. So then I went on there myself. And I saw this one that was actually kind of funny. It's like one of them was in there. And then they have the store a store, I should say in there. And they have a store manager or someone else there. And then they turn on their own camera man, like what's this guy filming so it's kind of it's an inside job. And then everyone stops one of the goons from attacking one of themselves. Because they have no idea. They're connected. Oh, like this guy's got a camera in here. What's he doing? And he just doing anything they can to stop these two kids from fighting. Meanwhile, they're all in on it. So yeah, it was like, you know, they do push the envelope cross the line, way more than I ever would I like a good prank, but it's more of a Hi, we both laugh and move on. They're pushing things. And I always noticed that about Tom Green. He was more an odd bird in that space. But if I remember MTV, he would do things. And one thing he never did is he never broke. I'll give him that credit. One time he went out in the soccer field like a youth soccer game. Yeah. And he had a little jam box. And he went out there as an adult, and was took the ball away and was kicking the ball and playing his own game. Parents were in Ray. Oh, there were fathers that wanted to kill him. And he never broken and they're like, What are you doing? It escalated cops game. But Tom Brady always was just like, what he would just act ridiculous. And I remember that. That was a long time ago now. So I mean, kids have grown up with that with punked with jackass. And you know, they keep upping the ante. It seems like

Sal Rodriguez: 9:41

Jason, I think what we've learned here is that if you want to be a good prankster on YouTube, you have to be willing to get arrested. Yeah, that's exactly. And you know what, Jason? I'm not we're old school. We

Jason Connell: 9:55

get arrested.

Sal Rodriguez: 9:57

When the police are on their way. I'm out. Sounds out. Peace. that? Well,

Jason Connell: 10:02

now the authorities didn't specify, unfortunately, the nature of this latest stunt, as Cook was filming with friends near a Cheesecake Factory at the Dulles Town Center in Sterling, Virginia. But so I'd venture to say it was probably a bit immature, and crossed all sorts of lines for him to get shot, or they just put down the wrong guy, which we'll get into,

Sal Rodriguez: 10:26

you know, one prank I've been seeing recently, and these guys have done it a few times. It's not these guys, but another YouTube prankster. Yeah, they'll walk up to a couple. And the guy will hand a piece of paper and a pen to the woman and say, yeah, let me get your number. Like right in front of the dude. Gosh, and you know, a lot of these videos just stop like, they just kind of end. But I can only imagine that these if it's real, if that is indeed a real prank, and the marks are not in on it. That can be very dangerous. You go tell a guy's girlfriend to give you her number. Yeah, look out

Jason Connell: 11:02

in real life. I and Sophia would just laugh. Because, you know, what are we going to do? There's no real threat. I'm not threatened by it. Sure, sure. But if someone's persistent and breaking that line, that safe zone, that's when it could not be so I'm not gonna pull a gun. Sure. But I'll pull these out. No, but no, everybody

Sal Rodriguez: 11:22

has. There's always isn't line. It's a society there is that line, right? Like personal space, all that right. And there is that line. And for all of us, I guess those lines can be closer or a little further, depending on what the situation is. But there are the lines. Yeah. And when these guys crossed those lines, unfortunately, yes, stuff like this can actually happen because there are people walking around, wanting to shoot. It's one thing that people have a gun for protection, like I'm using this gun to protect myself. It's another thing where people are prepared to be incredibly offensive. In the name of defense, like, Oh, I was being defensive, but you're being offensive in your defense.

Jason Connell: 12:00

Yep. Well, to that point. The intended target of the prank was 31 year old Alan Colley who pulled out a semi automatic pistol and shot the YouTuber striking him in the stomach, and the liver. So where was he in that spectrum of? I've got a gun. Am I threatened? Or I'm finally going to use this thing. And maybe again, I don't know. I mean, you're at a mall. And you've got this pistol, which I'm assuming is legal in a lot of states. There's that. But yeah, well, how bad could they have been? And we've seen some of their shenanigans, but the wrong guy at the wrong time, and they keep egging him on. You never know. And this can happen. And it has happened.

Sal Rodriguez: 12:46

Yeah, we don't know what the scenario was exactly what the prank was. Maybe one day we'll find out. But yeah, this guy, Alan shoots the prankster point blank range, I'm assuming.

Jason Connell: 12:57

Yeah. They've been deadly bomb bomb. He exactly

Sal Rodriguez: 13:01

this was attempting to kill it wasn't attempted murder.

Jason Connell: 13:05

And it takes it way too far. Even if you're mad, a good old fashioned punch. A push our walk away mad. Go get security. This guy was on edge. And you got to have to know your audience. Not a prankster. But I do pride myself on knowing my audience. Yeah. And that's like, that's the guy we're avoiding. Yeah, but they misjudged the situation. And this happened.

Sal Rodriguez: 13:31

Well, Jason, it's one thing to prank friends. Right, right. It's one thing if I prank you, Hey, Jason got me. But to prank a stranger. Exactly. It's risky. Yeah,

Jason Connell: 13:43

make a lot of assumptions there. Now, Tanner's father, Jeremy Cook said the following. Please go ahead. So

Sal Rodriguez: 13:51

they were making a video at the mall and trying to have fun with people. And this guy wasn't having fun. There was a phone that was around him and they were interviewing or talking to him. And he didn't like it. And he pulled out his gun and shot my son

Jason Connell: 14:05

who there's a little bit more details there. And I actually read online that Jeremy has forgiven Kali for shooting the sun. So there's that. I also read something else, but I'll save that for the end. So yeah, we still don't have any idea but there was some you know, they're at a mall. They're seeing people throughout the mall and targeting them and doing their little shenanigans and yeah, it's just the wrong person. The Wrong place the wrong time. And it escalated.

Sal Rodriguez: 14:32

Very good. Two girls number let me get your girl's number. Yeah, two girls number here.

Jason Connell: 14:36

Now according to the Loudoun County Sheriff's Office, a call was placed at around 11:57am reporting the incident and deputies were on the scene and three minutes and that's fast. Yes, Kali. The suspect was swiftly arrested. One adult male victim was found outside the mall with a gunshot wound to the abdomen. The victim was treated for injury Isn't transported to a local hospital for treatment. They also noted that it didn't appear that the suspect and the victim knew each other because they're coming into something they don't know what's going on here. Deputies on the scene also check the entire mall to see if any of the suspects or victims are present, but nothing was reported. And so in today's climate, a situation like this probably caused major panic in the mall. Yeah, I can only imagine it. People are running for the exits. That's why police response time was so fast but very scary. And yet they're coming into a situation this guy's shot. Who shot him? Who else is here? Is anyone hiding in oschmann? I mean, you don't know anything. So that mall was on lockdown. I read that they closed it for the day didn't reopen until the following day. And I saw some footage of Kali being arrested. I did see that I was going to talk about that in a second. But that was online. So I don't know if you saw that or not.

Sal Rodriguez: 16:03

Do we know if there was only one shot fired?

Jason Connell: 16:07

I don't know if it was stomach liver. Two shots. I don't know. I don't know if it was one or two. I

Sal Rodriguez: 16:12

don't Yeah. Or like one hit and one match. I mean, yeah, we don't have that. Yeah, I think that anybody would agree though that probably an over response to a prank. And then also an attempted murder charge possibly here. So yeah, this this whole thing is just really bad.

Jason Connell: 16:29

Yeah, so as for the actual incident, as I've stated, it was not on camera, which honestly, sound makes no sense to me. Because if there pranksters, the cameras or phones or whatever, are rolling, so to not even get that I don't understand unless, you know, that's a little suspect it is, but whatever. There is footage, as I said, of Kali being arrested. And there's also one of Cook's friends captured footage of Kali pulling the gun, which is now being used as evidence against the suspect. So maybe it's multiple camera and his angle only saw, you know, Cali pulling the gun, but that was not online. It's not on their YouTube channel. It's with authorities.

Sal Rodriguez: 17:15

You know, Jason, the first time I was in Texas, and I remember I was at a mall, and I see a guy with a gun on his hip. And I'm like, Oh, he's a cop or whatever, Sheriff. 10 minutes later, another guy. I was like, Oh, another security. 10 minutes later, another guy's like, what's going on here? And that's when I realized that you could walk around with a gun on your hip, and you're not a cop. That doesn't happen in Los Angeles. You don't see people walking around with guns who are not police. Right? At least you don't see it. Yeah. In Virginia. We don't know the open carry rules and laws.

Jason Connell: 17:46

I don Jr. But before you go on back to Texas, yes. You really reminded me of a scene from Pee Wee's Big Adventure. What? He says the stars at night are big and bright. Keep in touch Texas. That is so spot on in the basement of the Alamo, and there's no basement. Jan Hooks, so good to revisit that. Very good. Tim Burton, of course. Paul Reubens. No, but that was spot on by you. You're like, oh, you see some spurs as well. Yeah.

Sal Rodriguez: 18:26

You know, sometime, I hate to admit it sometimes a little slow on the uptake, as they may say, no slow. I'm like, Huh. And then they go through the the montage of like, ah, yeah, then it all make

Jason Connell: 18:38

sense. Yeah. Well, growing up in Oklahoma, I knew we had the same thing. So I was exposed to guns early. It just wasn't my thing. Sports were more my thing than guns. But yes, they're a real thing. And I don't know, Virginia's law, but nothing came up about illegal gun, at least that I know of. So it could be one of those days. I want to make an assumption. Sure. Now, Alan colleague is currently being charged with the following. So

Sal Rodriguez: 19:06

aggravated malicious, wounding, shooting in the commission of a felony and discharging firearms within an occupied building. So you know, what we're seeing also is, if you live long enough, you start to see new laws, right, that weren't around 1020 30 years. Sure. Yeah. Like for example, he gets charged with discharging firearms within an occupied building a law like that I willing to wager was probably not even around 20 years ago.

Jason Connell: 19:37

Yeah. called something different. Yeah. Now no attempted murder charge here who?

Sal Rodriguez: 19:43

That would be the obvious one, right. Well, let's see.

Jason Connell: 19:47

And I also read post doing this and that was another article that popped up more recently, that they're considering going forward with charges against cook. Oh, you know, I don't know what it would be accurate. provoking somebody Yeah, so I don't know. It's obviously not as severe of you know, but

Sal Rodriguez: 20:05

you know why Jason? I think that's why they're not releasing the prank. Exact because maybe the prank might incriminate cook.

Jason Connell: 20:11

Yeah, and his friends and so a slap on the wrist, whatever. But it's you can't go unscathed. You obviously were a part of this, you put it in motion, didn't deserve to get shot, or potentially killed, but they're looking into it could be nothing. But maybe as I say this on lots of crimes. If there's an update, we will come back and do a little episode about that. Yeah, we keep an eye on them. Things move slow. And the gender justice system, so we don't always get the updates right away. We've had one historically, maybe a couple now asked for cook. He's expected to make a full recovery, which is great news. Honestly. Yeah. Cook also shared that he's not going to let the shooting discourage him from creating prank videos, which is not great news for his victims.

Sal Rodriguez: 20:59

Lessons not learned.

Jason Connell: 21:01

Yeah, I'm getting right back in there. Back on the saddle. In fact,

Sal Rodriguez: 21:05

I'm going to carry a gun now when I prank oh my gosh, no, no, let's make it worse.

Jason Connell: 21:09

So that's really all I have. So I don't know. Anything else you want to add. I know that you're in this space more than me. And I know that, you know, you were telling me like, oh my gosh, you were starting to mention other pranks that had gone wrong. I think yeah, we could do more episodes. On pranks gone bad. But that could be a TV show. I'm quite certain.

Sal Rodriguez: 21:30

No, I know Jason. I just read like a week or two ago. There's some sort of bucket prank where they approach an unsuspecting shopper in any given retail store. And they literally put a bucket over the person's head and then run off and haha have laughs right? Well, they put a bucket over a woman and this woman fell into some sort of coma and literally, her life was in jeopardy, her equilibrium. I don't know how it all worked out. It's a medical thing. But in other words, this bucket thing almost killed somebody. This person that you just tried to have an innocent prank on so yeah, I would say look, guys, I love pranks. I do. They're funny. In fact, on an international flight, they were playing the Just For Laughs from Canada. Those pranksters? No audio just music. Yeah, but it's international. I was on an international flight with international people. Everybody was cracking up. Yeah, guys. Everybody loves pranks. We love pranks, but just be careful out there. Don't get hurt and don't hurt anybody.

Jason Connell: 22:23

Good saying Sal. And I also like international people. Just wanna give a shout out to national people. Shout. Well, that covers the True Crime Story of the YouTube prankster shot after failed stunt in 2023. So So stay safe out there. Don't prank too hard. And let's come back and do some more crime together. I'll be ready. So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to the that's a crime podcast and the that's a crime YouTube Live Channel. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 23:00

And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on any that's a crime social media platform.

Jason Connell: 23:10

We also highly recommend checking out our other podcasts and visiting just curious media.com. Alan Colley, Kali Allen Kali