LEESBURG, Va. — Jurors in the trial against a man accused of critically injuring a YouTube prankster watched the video of the shooting on the first day of testimony.
Alan Colie, a DoorDash driver, is on trial for three charges including aggravated malicious wounding for allegedly shooting Tanner Cook, 21, of the YouTube channel "Classified Goons."
Cook and three other friends were at Dulles Town Center in early April to record another prank video for his channel. In the footage, recorded by one of his videographers, Cook held his phone near Colie’s ear and used Google Translate to play out loud the phrase, “Hey dip****, quit thinking about my twinkle.”
Colie had just picked up an order from the food court when Cook approached him. The interaction, which only lasted about 10 seconds, included Cook playing the phrase four times as Colie backed away.
Colie's defense attorney, Adam Pouilliard, said his client not only told Cook to stop but was confused about the situation and threatened to call the police. In the video shown at trial, you could hear Colie telling Cook to stop three times.
Cook’s mother was in the courtroom Tuesday when the jury watched Colie pull out a gun and shoot Cook in the abdomen. The YouTuber also showed where the bullet entered above his stomach to the jury.
Another video captured by a different friend showed Cook covering the injury with his hands as mall visitors scrambled to safety. In one angle, a patron could be seen going underneath a table.
The case quickly became viral not because there was a shooting inside a mall, but because Cook is known to make prank videos. Cook amassed 55,000 subscribers with an average income of up to $3,000 per month. He said he elicits response to entertain viewers and called his pranks “comedy content.”
The Commonwealth is arguing that Cook was never armed, never placed hands on Colie and never posed a threat. They stressed that just because Cook may not seem like a saint or his occupation makes him appear undesirable, that a conviction is warranted.
“The message that was played was stupid, silly, and you may think it was offensive but that’s all that it was,” Deputy Commonwealth Attorney Pamela Jones said during her opening statement. “A cell phone near his ear got [Cook] shot.”
However, the defense is working to illustrate that it was Cook who was the aggressor in the case. During the line of questioning by the defense, Cook acknowledged that by creating confusion for random strangers in his videos, it can draw out emotions of anger and fear. He said it’s common for individuals he finds to tell him to back off.
“You didn’t think it would be scary if someone was two feet away with a phone six inches to your face?” Pouilliard asked Cook.
“No,” replied Cook.
“You don’t think it was scary?”
“No, since it was just an iPhone.”
Minutes before the shooting, the video captured conversation about avoiding mall security since the group was warned the day before.
Public defender Tabatha Blake stressed how Colie never thought he was the subject of a prank.
“Why didn’t you stop?” asked the defense.
“Because there was no reaction,” answered Cook.
“You mean there was no reaction funny enough to be in your video?”
“Yes.”
Another witness who testified Tuesday was Deputy Brian Leopard, who responded to the shooting. His body camera video showed him pulling out a rifle and racing into the mall. He passed Cook, who walked out of the mall and laid on the ground near the Cheesecake Factory.
By the time Leopard went up the stairs, Colie was on the ground facing down. Leopard testified that a pistol was right next to Colie.
The trial is expected to last until Friday.