Nashville, Tennessee - A 20-year-old man was shot dead after a simple scare prank went horribly wrong.

Timothy Wilks was shot to death in a parking lot of an Urban Air indoor trampoline park Friday night, according to a Metropolitan Nashville Police Department statement, as reported by The Associated Press.

When officers arrived to the scene, 23-year-old cop David Starnes Jr. admitted that he had shot Wilks because he believed himself and the people he was with were in danger.

However, he didn't know that Wilks and a friend were staging a "prank" robbery as part of a YouTube video when they approached a group of people, including Starnes, with butcher knives.

No arrests have been made following the fatal shooting, but police said they're investigating whether Starnes acted in self-defense.

Dangerous pranks remain a popular source for clout on YouTube, with some videos getting millions of views. Two weeks ago, a YouTuber was arrested after he faked a medical emergency in the middle of Times Square traffic and uploaded the stunt to the platform.