OLD HICKORY, Tenn. (WKRN) — A 20-year-old man was shot to death during a “prank” robbery staged for social media Friday night, according to a release from Nashville police.
Police said Timothy Wilks was shot and killed in a parking lot at a building with several businesses, including a trampoline park, around 9:20 p.m.
Detectives were told Wilks and a friend were participating in a “prank” robbery as part of a YouTube video and approached a group of people, including the shooter, with butcher knives.
A 23-year-old man told police he wasn’t aware the robbery was a prank and shot Wilks. Investigators reported he said it was in “self-defense.”
“This is like a huge kids area, and when we were in there, there were a ton of tiny kids and it’s just like that would not be a great idea,” Emily Yeager, a customer at the trampoline park, told WKRN. “Especially if anyone was walking out here or something like that.”
No charges have been filed, and the investigation is ongoing.