Man who shot YouTuber at Dulles Town Center to remain in jail as lawyers continue to argue self-defense
Man who shot YouTuber Tanner Cook to remain in jail
Last month, a jury found Alan Colie not guilty of the most serious charges against him after shooting YouTube prankster Tanner Cook. The jury essentially found Colie not guilty of shooting Cook, but guilty of unlawfully firing a gun in an occupied building. Colie was denied bond and remains in jail until sentencing in December.
LOUDOUN COUNTY, Va. - The man who shot a YouTube prankster inside Dulles Town Center Mall was in a Loudoun County Courtroom Thursday afternoon.
Last month, a jury found Alan Colie not guilty of the most serious charges against him after shooting Tanner Cook.
Cook runs a YouTube page where he makes prank videos, oftentimes putting unsuspecting people in uncomfortable situations. He was shooting a video in the mall in early April, putting an automated message on his phone and approaching Colie, who was picking up a food delivery order.
In the video, Cook plays the message over and over again, Colie appears to ask him to stop but Cook continues following him. From start to finish, the interaction was about 20 seconds long but ends with Colie firing one shot into Cook’s abdomen.
The jury essentially found Colie not guilty of shooting Cook, but guilty of unlawfully firing a gun in an occupied building.
In court Thursday, Colie’s defense team argued the jury’s verdict indicates it thought the shooting was self-defense — that if Colie’s shooting was justified, then firing the shot itself could not have been unlawful.
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The Commonwealth’s Attorney argued that contradictory verdicts are allowed in Virginia and it’s not the court’s role to infer what the jury was thinking when it handed down its verdict.
The judge agreed with the Commonwealth and denied the motions. The judge also denied bond for Colie. As of now, his next court appearance is in December for his sentencing.
His grandmother, Elfriede Colie, is sad that her grandson will remain in jail.
"I hope when he does come out. He’s going to be a better person. A better person. And when something like this comes again, just keep walking away, don’t let it get to you," Colie said, "He came into the mall to do an honest job, to make a dollar. No trouble. And the trouble found him."
FOX 5 spoke with two jurors after the verdict in late September. One juror acknowledged this was a complicated case and while it may have been a split decision, it was one they reached unanimously.
It’s unclear if there will be an appeal in this case; however, the judge acknowledged that was a possibility during Thursday’s proceedings.