WATCH: Man shoots YouTube prankster in shopping mall

A video of a man shooting a YouTube prankster, Tanner Cook, who followed him around a shopping mall food court is going viral on social media.

A United States (US) jury found 31-year-old Alan Colie not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding in the shooting of 21-year-old Tanner Cook, who runs the “Classified Goons” YouTube channel – which has more than 50,000 subscribers.

However, the jury was split on two lesser firearms charges and decided to convict him on one and acquit him on the other.

The shooting on 2 April in Dulles Town Center, a shopping mall in Washington DC, sparked panic as shoppers fled what they feared was another mass shooting.

The YouTube prankster made a nonsensical recording on his cellphone, and on April 2, he approached Colie in the food court of shopping mall and followed him while playing the audio.

The video shows Colie backing away from Tanner Cook, telling him to stop three times and trying to push the cellphone away from his face.

After about 20 seconds, Colie pulled out a gun and shot the YouTube prankster. Many on social media supported Colie, saying Cook was harassing a stranger.

Delivery driver who shot a YouTube prankster acquitted by jury.#YouTube #YouTuber #Prank #Prankster pic.twitter.com/p5XuMTaedf

— Zenify (@Zenifywtf) September 30, 2023

Prosecutors told the jury Colie took a gun to a cellphone fight, but the jury sided with Colie’s self-defense claim, which is usually reserved for someone who has good reason to believe that they’re in serious physical danger.

Colie was found not guilty of aggravated malicious wounding and malicious discharge though he still faces charges of shooting into an occupied dwelling. He faces up to 10 years in prison.

Cook says he plans to continue making his YouTube prank videos.