A 20-year-old man died after being shot during what his friend said was a prank theft on YouTube, according to Nashville police.
Timothy Wilks was shot to death in the Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park parking lot at 9:25 pm on Friday, a statement from the Nashville Metropolitan Police Department said. When the officers arrived, David Starnes Jr., 23, admitted that he shot Wilks, believing that he and the others were in danger.
According to police, Wilks and a friend approached a group of people, including Starnes, with butcher knives. It was supposed to be a prank theft for a YouTube video, the friend told detectives.
Starnes told the police he didn’t know of any pranks. No arrests were made and police said they were investigating whether Starnes acted in self-defense.
Theft pranks remain popular on YouTube, with some videos getting millions of views. In August, the Stokes twins were charged with a crime and misdemeanor in connection with two bank robberies they filmed for their 6 million subscribers. The twins’ lawyers said they had committed no crime in making their videos.