To be conscious of their actions, people have to remain aware of their surroundings at all times. If not, they behave in manners that are unpredictable.
This is why jokes and pranks on strangers have become a popular genre around the world, and that contents for these have made rounds after rounds on YouTube.
And Tanner Cook, is one of those YouTubers, who frequently made pranks on people for his tens of thousands of followers to see.
But this time, he learned things the hard way, when the person he pranked didn't like the idea of being pranked.
Cook got shot because of this, and had to underwent a surgery to save his life.
It all began in Dulles Town Center mall, where Cook and his friends were filming the prank in one day on a weekend.
Cook moved to the area from Washington state with a group of friends and fellow YouTubers, "and they were all together when this happened," said his father, Jeramy Cook.
On their YouTube channel, "Classified Goons," Cook and his friends dressed up as cashiers, clowns, security guards, or as themselves. The pranks usually involve them attempting to put strangers into awkward scenarios.
This time, Cook approached a man called Alan Colie at a food court in the Norther Virginia mall. While others hid to film the encounter, Cook was trying to prank Colie with a Google Translate app.
"He was putting a phone in somebody's face, and it was saying things in another language - I don't know what it was saying - and the gentleman slapped it away twice, and the third time, he shot him," said Michael Cook, Tanner Cook's grandfather.
"The guy didn't appreciate it, and got mad, and shot my son," Jeramy Cook added.
As a result of this, Cook who is known for his audacious practical jokes, got shot in the abdomen.
The whole incident was captured on video by Cook's collaborators, and that the shooting in the mall's food court sent shoppers running towards the exits, a video posted on social media shows.
According to the authorities, the two men did not know each other, police said.
Because of what he did, Colie was charged with aggravated malicious wounding, using a firearm while committing a felony and discharging a firearm in a building.
As for Cook, the YouTuber had to have his gallbladder removed.
The single gunshot pieced his abdomen, and caused multiple and irreversible damage to the organ, his grandfather said, adding that Cook "can hardly talk without severe pain."
Virginia law requires anyone carrying firearms to hold a permit, and according to the authority, "the motive for the shooting at the Dulles Town Center is under investigation, as is whether Mr. Colie had a permit and, if so, where from," said Thomas Julia, a spokesman for the sheriff's office.
"The victim was found outside the mall and treated by both arriving deputies and Loudoun County Combined Fire and Rescue System personnel. He is recovering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen and remains hospitalized."
Fortunately for the young Cook, he survived the attack.
"I’m fine," Cook said. "I was just playing a prank, a simple practical joke, and this guy didn’t take it very well and shot me."
"He's been a prankster most of his life. He's just a giant teddy bear. But [...] he picked the wrong guy to test something being funny," Michael Cook said. "We just lift Tanner up, and we know he is and always will be in God's hands."
"My son is a good kid. He has a good heart. He's not a mean-spirited kid trying to go out there and hurt people," added Jeramy Cook. "To do something like that, and to possibly try to kill somebody because you were offended, is not okay or excusable."
"It's just nasty and terrible," he said. "I just don't understand how people can think that, in the world we live in, if you're offended, gives you a right to go do things — up to killing somebody if you're offended."
"My reaction is to forgive the guy that did it, and pray for him - that he gets forgiveness from God," Jeramy Cook continued.
"To forgive somebody and move on is the way to handle offense."
While the case was simply caused by someone being offended by a prank, the Cooks have received harassment following the young Tanner Cook's hospitalization.
For example, In the comments section on his son's YouTube videos, many were praising and sympathizing with Colie, while others made jokes about Cook’s injury.
Jeramy Cook said many of the responses to his son's experience have gone too far.
Jeramy Cook said he has received messages stating that his son deserved to get shot and die because of his YouTube channel.
The father also said he has been getting contacts and messages to his phone that have made him feel threatened.
"Our family has been absolutely targeted by people saying he should have died, too bad he didn't die, just colorful, nasty language," Jeramy Cook said.
"It's just gross," Jeramy Cook continued. "How do they think that they're on some high moral ground to cuss somebody out whose son was just shot?"
Jeramy Cook said his son is "a good kid that doesn't have a mean bone in his body." All he wanted was to provide entertainment to people.
He also pointed out that his son is not the only person to create prank content. because prank content can be stretched back to the days of Ashton Kutcher's Punk'd or Jackass movies, and the genre has been a staple of the general online culture for years.
And on YouTube, this kind of content has shown its presence on the streaming giant from early-to-mid 2010s, and that it's nothing too heinous or egregious.
"There's a million TV shows and movies and YouTube channels ... [of] people pranking people all day long, and people eat it up," Jeramy Cook said. "So if there's some magical line in terms of what's not okay, then that line should be clearly defined for anybody in the space."
According to a later report from WUSA9, Colie defended his actions.
His attorney, Adam Pouilliard, said that Cook "antagonized" his client, adding that Colie was "targeted, harassed, accosted, and followed" by Cook in the Dulles Town Center Mall.
Cook, using the Google Translate app, wrote the phrase "I think you smell." Colie did told Cook to "leave him alone," but Cook didn't abide to that warning.
Colie even swatted the phone out of his face, but because Cook was “as close as six inches away,” Colie was intimidated.
Because of this, the Loudoun County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office said in a statement to WUSA9 that charges against Cook may be considered.
"This matter is still under investigation," the department said.
"The actions of Tanner Cook and Alan Colie are under review. Once the investigation is complete, the OCA will review the evidence and make such charging decisions as are supported by the facts. This may result in additional charges."