Man Get Jail Time, Banned From Disney World After Spreading Active Shooter Hoax For YouTube Prank

A potential YouTube prank at one of America’s most famous theme parks has landed the prankster in jail. Dillion Burch, 22, of Glendale, Arizona, was sentenced to three days jail for telling guests at a Walt Disney World resort that there was an active shooter on the premises, all for the sake of a YouTube video.

Just after midnight on Monday morning, Burch reportedly approached a woman at the front desk of Walt Disney World’s Contemporary Resort hotel in Bay Lake, Florida. He told her that he was warning guests about a shooter in the area for his YouTube channel, which prompted the woman to call the manager, according to WKMG-6.

An arrest affidavit called Burch “highly intoxicated” at the time. Guests at the hotel corroborated that detail, saying a drunk man had told them to evacuate because of an emergency. He would go on to tell the guests that it was a joke for his YouTube channel.

Burch then reportedly told the manager he needed to film people’s reactions for a school project. When he learned police were on their way, Burch decided to leave the hotel. The sight of police lights caused him to flee the scene, but he was eventually found hiding in some bushes nearby.

A police search uncovered some beer in his backpack, bolstering claims that Burch was drunk at the time of the alleged prank.

Burch was banned from Disney World and was forced to leave at the Contemporary Resort. He pleaded no contest to charges of disorderly intoxication and disturbing the peace.

By Wednesday, he had been released on bond, according to the Orlando Sentinel.

Though Burch told authorities he perpetrated the shooter hoax for his YouTube channel, he did not appear to be a major player in the YouTube scene. A cursory search of his name on the video website brings up only news reports about this incident or unrelated weightlifting videos posted by a different man with a similar name.

Walt Disney World hotels instituted new security measures that effectively got rid of traditional hotel “do not disturb” signs late last year. The new rules gave hotel staff authority to enter rooms regardless of occupancy at least once a day to lessen safety concerns, such as active shooter situations.