YouTuber Tanner Cook shot, arrest made
According to news station WUSA9, Cook was shot in the stomach and liver while recording a Classified Goons video inside the Dulles Town Center mall in Sterling, Virginia. The suspected shooter, 31-year-old Alan W. Colie, was arrested and charged with aggravated malicious wounding, use of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and discharging a firearm within a building. An investigation is still underway, while Cook had surgery for the incident. He told WUSA9 that Colie didn’t say anything. He just pulled out a gun and shot Cook.
“I’m fine,” Cook told WUSA9 in an exclusive interview. “I was just playing a prank, a simple practical joke, and this guy didn’t take it very well and shot me.”
Kotaku reached out to Cook and the Classified Goons for comment.
Cops responded in three minutes
In a press release, the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) said that once a call was placed at around 11:57 a.m. local time reporting the incident, deputies were on the scene within three minutes. Colie, the suspect, was swiftly arrested.
“One adult male victim was found outside the mall with a gunshot wound to the abdomen,” LCSO said. “The victim was treated for injuries by deputies and members of the Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System (LC-CFRS) and transported to a local hospital for treatment. At this time, it does not appear that the suspect and the victim were known to each other.”
LCSO said deputies on the scene also “checked the entire mall” to see if any other suspects or victims were present, but nothing was reported in that regard.
When reached for comment, a LCSO detective told Kotaku that the department can’t divulge much information because the incident is still under investigation.
“We do have the shooter in custody,” the LCSO detective said. “We can’t release the victim’s name or the fact that the victim has a social media presence, which you might already know. We’re limited on what we can say, but the victim is still in the hospital. Other than that, we don’t know their status.”
Despite such a traumatizing predicament that would rattle most folks, Cook told WUSA9 that the shooting isn’t going to stop him. Posting is his “passion,” he told the news station, so he’s intent to return to YouTube. Cook’s expected to make a full recovery.
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