American YouTuber Timothy Wilks, 20, has been shot dead near Nashville, Tennessee, while filming a robbery prank which went very wrong.
On February 5, Wilks and a mate approached a group of people outside a trampoline park at around 9:25pm. The two were apparently carrying butchers’ knives in their hands.
According to police, a 23-year-old man in the group then shot Wilks out of “self-defense”. He claims he didn’t realise Wilks was a YouTuber, or that the whole thing was a prank.
“This is like a huge kids area and when we were in there, there were a tonne of tiny kids and it’s just like that would not be a great idea,” a visitor to the venue told local media.
“Especially if anyone was walking out here or something like that.”
Tennessee is an open carry state, meaning anyone could potentially pull out a gun at any given moment if they feel threatened. You’d have no way of knowing if they even had it on them at the time.
It’s unclear what the name of Wilks’ channel was, but he appears not to have been a super well-known YouTuber.
Nashville police are still investigating whether or not the alleged shooter really did act in self-defense, but it’s entirely possible considering the nature of YouTube pranks.
Nevertheless, the case has stunned people online about the lengths YouTubers will go to create content and perhaps become famous.
