Reminder: Scary pranks may end up getting you shot

I’m not a fan of pranks and I can trace this back to 1996 when a 14-year-old Jason Rantz watched Scream, thinking Drew Barrymore was a victim of a meaningless prank. That is until her boyfriend was murdered in her backyard by the “pranksters” who go on to kill her character and hang her from a tree for her parents to find when they get home from a nice night out. What’s my favorite scary movie? The one I don’t have to watch! Let’s just say I now get scared easily.

If we need another reason not to prank each other, all we need to do is a take a trip to Puyallup where the Associated Press reports a 23-year-old man shot a friend, not realizing he was the victim of a prank. He mistook the friend for a burglar. They report:

Police spokesman Scott Engle says the victim, a 25-year-old Puyallup man, and another friend went to the man’s home to try to scare him. The friend who lived at the home called out to the two, but they hid outside in a tall grassy area by the house.

Police say the man then fired a shotgun, shooting his friend once in the chest and shoulder area around 11:30 p.m. Saturday. The shooter and the other friend loaded the victim into a car and drove him to a local hospital.

The victim survived, but is recovering at Harborview. The pranked? He’s in Pierce County jail on first-degree assault charges (though the News Tribune reports authorities need more time to figure out if they will actually charge).

Based on the limited details we have, I’m not sure he should be charged. On the one hand, if there isn’t an imminent danger, I don’t think anyone should be firing their gun into a bush. On the other hand, I suppose someone with a weapon could be shielded by the bush he or she is hiding behind (even in the Scream trailer, it warns “Don’t try to hide!”).

Moral of this story? Stop pranking your friends. You could end up being shot.