A 20-year-old man was shot to death during a “prank” robbery staged for social media Friday night, according to a release from Nashville police.
Police said Timothy Wilks was shot and killed in a parking lot at a building with several businesses, including a trampoline park, around 9:20 p.m.
Detectives were told Wilks and a friend was participating in a “prank” robbery as part of a YouTube video and approached a group of people; including the shooter; with butcher knives.
A 23-year-old man told police he wasn’t aware the robbery was a prank and shot Wilks. Investigators reported he said it was in “self-defense.”
“This is like a huge kids area; when we were in there; there were a ton of tiny kids and it’s just like that would not be a great idea,” Emily Yeager; a customer at the trampoline park told WKRN. “Especially if anyone was walking out here or something like that.”
No charges have been filed, and the investigation is ongoing.
A man was fatally shot Friday night in the parking lot of a Nashville, Tennessee business after performing a “prank” robbery for a YouTube video went wrong, police said https://t.co/tBXKneYkdJ
— Yahoo News (@YahooNews) February 8, 2021
Robbery “prank videos” are relatively common on YouTube, sometimes involving fake firearms, balaclavas, or getaway vehicles.
Some have millions of views – though many of those are themselves faked; with all participants being “in” on the video and acting their part but YouTube brought in rules banning dangerous or threatening pranks two years ago.
That includes; “pranks that lead victims to fear the imminent serious physical danger or that create serious emotional distress in minors”.
Threats with weapons and fake robberies are specifically listed as offenses that would result in the video being taken down.