Cousin disputes report 'No Lackin Challenge' hospitalized 17-year-old

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC) - A dangerous internet challenge is gaining popularity and putting the people who participate in the challenge in danger.

It's called the No Lackin Challenge. In it, friends pull guns on each other but nobody pulls the trigger.

However, Memphis Police Department said the game went awry Thursday morning on Union Avenue. A 21-year-old did pull the trigger, shooting his 17-year-old friend in the head.

A witness to the shooting came forward Monday to say police had it wrong. He said the shooting had nothing to do with the No Lackin Challenge.

"Everybody is shaken up right now, and it got me even worse," Terrencio Bell said.

Bell is cousins with the 17-year-old who was shot. He said his cousin is still recovering in the hospital from a bullet wound to the head.

Bell, his cousin, and their co-worker Sherman Lackland were sitting in a booth at E's Cafe when the shooting happened.

Lackland and another witness in the cafe said the shooting did happen while they played the No Lackin Challenge.

Bell disagrees.

"No, it wasn't the No Lackin Challenge. We were just sitting there eating," Bell said. "When Sherman took [the gun] back out of his pocket, he pointed it up, and it went off."

No matter what caused the shooting, Bell's cousin is in a hospital bed and his co-worker is behind bars.

"He keeps going in and out. Like right now his brain has swelled up, and it's bleeding," Bell said.

Bell said Sherman is known to play with his gun all the time. Bell hopes this story will wake people up and teach them that it's not OK to play with guns.

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