YouTuber Killed After Prank Robbery Gone Wrong

A reported YouTube prank gone wrong resulted in one man losing his life on Friday night, with Nashville's NBC affiliate WSMV bringing word of the incident. According to the outlet, a 20-year-old named Timothy Wilks and a friend "approached a group of people with butcher knives" in a parking lot hoping to shoot a "prank video" for the popular online platform. One member of this group was apparently unaware of the intended prank, drew a fire arm and shot one of the would-be assailants. When police arrived on the scene they learned of the situation and spoke with 23-year-old David Starnes Jr. who reportedly admitted to shooting Wilks in self-defense. No charges have been filed at this time.

News of the event has sparked a lot of online discussion with one commenter on WSMV's Facebook page writing: "Sooo...if someone didn't pull a gun and shoot the actor, would they have actually robbed the group? Was the intent robbery, with a contingency plan, upon getting caught, to claim 'just kidding!'? They should go ahead and charge any survivor of the YouTube group with robbery."

Another wrote: "This is why I despise the 'prank' channels on youtube. I tell my kids not to watch them because they are more like assault and criminal behavior than they are like candid pranks or humor...People literally just vandalize, assault, and threaten people and property or pretend to commit crimes. But it's way more dangerous than it is funny.
Maybe he will get a load of subscribers now though. I hope all those likes and subscribes were worth it..."

"Pranks" of fake robberies have become a popular trend on YouTube in the past few months with CNN reporting last August that viral TikTok pair Alan and Alex Stokes, aka the Stokes Twins, could potentially find themselves in state prison for up to four years following their role in a pair of fake bank robberies.

That specific scenario saw the pair hail a driver through the rideshare app Uber, pretending that they just robbed a bank after he arrived to pick them up. The Uber driver reportedly refused to pick them up with a nearby witness reportedly watching the entire event, assuming that the pair had just robbed a bank and were carjacking the driver, and called the police. Police let the Stoke Twins go with a warning but were alerted hours later to them performing the same "prank." The pair were then charged with a felony and misdemeanor