YouTuber Shot, Killed After Going After Armed Tennessee Man in Fake Robbery

A would-be YouTube star was shot and killed in Nashville on Friday after he approached a man carrying a concealed handgun in what police have described as a “robbery prank” gone wrong.

Carrying butcher knives, Timothy Wilks, 20, and a friend approached a group of people in a parking lot of an Urban Air Trampoline and Adventure Park around 9:20 p.m. One of the men in the group, 23-year-old David Starnes, Jr., believed he and his friends were in danger, so he took out his concealed handgun and shot Wilks, killing him.

Starnes stayed on the scene and told police he was not aware of the prank. Police said in a statement that no charges have been filed, but they are investigating Starnes’ claims of self-defense.

Wilks’ relatives are not blaming Starnes. Instead, they’re trying to prevent other young people from taking similar risks to get famous.

Shirley Berry, Wilks’ grandmother, told the Tennessean that she’s trying to raise awareness of the consequences of social media and raise money for “positive programs” for children as a “tribute to him.”

Children like Wilks, she said, are drawn to the “limelight” and see social media and internet fame as a “way out.”

“The thing I would want them to know is, if you’re trying to make a statement for yourself, do it in a positive way,” she said. “Do something positive. That’s what I would have told him if he would have come to me with this thought.”

“If you’re thinking about doing something, think again, because it’s not worth your life or anybody else’s,” Berry said.

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