Pranksters Who Killed People By Accident!

Pranks That Ended In Tragedy!

Chances are we’ve all experienced a prank in one form or another, be it by being the perpetrator or through being on the receiving end. Most tend to follow a familiar pattern, with an immediate sense of embarrassment leading to laughter and, often, a tacit understanding that the victim will now be looking to respond in kind.

Re-programming a friend’s alarm for a 3:00am wake-up, for instance, may startle the prank target at first, but packs a relatively harmless, fun punch. Not all pranks end in as good-humored a manner, mind you. With YouTube and social media inviting the possibility of a seemingly limitless audience and the tantalizing prospect of widespread recognition, pranksters are pushing the envelope in increasingly brazen, risky ways. Fun is fun, but it’s hard to fathom any kind of prank that goes so far as to result in any serious damage. And yet, that’s precisely the tragic end that these thoughtless, ill-advised pranks lead to. The funny thing about pranks is that they often carry no malice and, in fact, represent an effort to bring a person into a group rather than drive them away. Sure, they may be designed to bring their recipients down a peg, but they typically carry a well-meaning type of unifying, bringing someone into the fold through an established and shared tradition. Hazing and initiation pranks carry a rightful stigma on account of extreme antics that can serve to abuse and degrade their targets, but traditional college pranking has been a long-entrenched way of welcoming new students into a storied fraternity, sorority or esteemed program. Clearly, someone forgot to tell these people. Pranks can go seriously wrong when they are designed to put their recipient in peril. Cover up a stop sign and you create an incredibly dangerous driving hazard. Mess around with a gun and you better be absolutely positive that it isn’t loaded. Find yourself toting around a lit sparkler and… okay, there is no good reason whatsoever to be carrying around a lit sparkler. The people involved in the following incidents evidently couldn’t comprehend the drastic difference between a fun, harmless, innocent prank and one that puts lives in jeopardy. Think, for a moment, of the grieving family, friends and loved ones of those victimized by pranks that go well past the line. The parents, siblings and significant others of those left lifeless when these thoughtless pranks go awry must not only cope with the tragedy and sadness associated with their loss, but also try and come to grips with the senseless nature of the act which took the life of their loved one. In some cases, an ill-advised prank can carry long-lasting repercussions for not only the prank victim, but also the perpetrator and even those loosely involved. Without any further ado, here are 10 heart-wrenching, head-scratching examples of what happens when a poorly thought out prank goes way too far.