A video that five Macon firefighters made of a fake firehouse robbery has cost one man his job, and demotions and suspensions for four others.
Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins handed down those punishments Wednesday after the men made the hazing video to scare two rookies. The controversial video, which was posted on YouTube on Sunday, shows a masked gunman bursting into Fire Station 108 at 7100 Peake Road. Next it shows the firefighters face-down on the ground as the man with a bandanna over his face waves a gun. At one point, the gunman leads one firefighter off the screen. Moments later, the sound of a gunshot is heard.
"The commission of this notoriously disgraceful act toward their fellow employees, this organization and this community, I find appalling," Riggins said in a statement. "I wish to reiterate that this is no means, an overall perspective of our firefighters in this organization."
The chief fired Christopher Hughes, who came up with the idea for the video and whose BB gun was used in the video. He demoted Sgt. Joshua Brewer to private. It was Brewer's camera that was used to make the video. Firefighters Christopher Houston, Mark Swain and Jesse White were suspended for 10 days. Three of their superiors, Lt. Timothy Pruitt, Capt. Stephanie Burke, and Battalion Chief James Wallace were reprimanded for not managing the fire station and not reporting the incident once they found out about it.
A Bibb County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed that it no crime had been committed.
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