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The video above is news coverage of Wednesday's hearing involving Macon-Bibb County Lt. Stephanie Burke, who was demoted from captain by Chief Marvin Riggins after learning of Burke's involvement in a September 18 hazing using a fake gunman at Station 108. The clip below has a longer, unedited version of the video that prompted the punishment. Chief Riggins narrates that video explaining why he believes Burke knew more than she admitted. At the bottom is the video that was posted to YouTube.

From Amy Leigh Womack at Macon.com:

During testimony Wednesday, a former Macon-Bibb County fire captain denied that she had helped plan a hazing prank at a fire station.

Stephanie Burke also denied that she told another firefighter to video the prank. The video was later posted on the social media website YouTube, prompting an investigation and subsequent disciplinary action.

Earlier in the hearing, Fire Chief Marvin Riggins testified that Burke’s reactions on the video did not indicate to him “someone who is afraid.” 

From WMAZ.com:

Burke took the stand Wednesday afternoon to say she knew about the stunt in advance, but didn't know the details.

In fact, one firefighter texted her to say he couldn't find anyone to play the role of a shooter, so the stunt was called off.

When the masked gunman entered the station house that day, she said, she was scared at first, but soon realized that the prank was back on.

Earlier, a Macon-Bibb fire battalion chief defended Burke. James Wallace was the first witness for the defense.

He says Burke was good at her job as captain and he would be glad to have her back in that role. He said demoting Burke to lieutenant for her role in the hazing stunt was too harsh.

Five firefighters were disciplined in the case.

Wallace today said he had heard scuttlebutt that a prank was in the works against a new private at Station 108. He says he did not know exactly what was happening, he'd just heard talk of it.

Wallace says pranking rookies had been a tradition at the fire department.

Wallace says he was on the other side of the building when the prank happened. He found out about it when he walked back across and everyone was laughing.

He said he saw the video that night and told them they would end in the chief's office for that. He says he thought that would end it.

Wallace says if he had to recommend discipline for Burke he would agree with a 20-day suspension but not demotion.

"Her, or any of them, I would take them back today," Wallace said when asked if he would be willing to have Burke serve as captain again.

Earlier in the day, Macon-Bibb's fire chief testified that Burke lied to him about  planning the videotaped shooting stunt.

Chief Marvin Riggins was the first witness today against Burke.

He said he talked to Burke the day after the videotaped hazing stunt. When he asked her if she knew about the prank, Riggins says Burke told him she was as surprised as the rookies.

Riggins then showed an unedited version of the hazing stunt. He stopped it at several spots to point out Burke.

He says he can see Burke laughing with other firefighters while it happened. She put her hands over her ears just as the firecracker was set to go off, and she jumped up to give high fives at the end. The chief says those actions show she was not scared and had to know about what was happening.

Riggins says after initial interviews, three firefighters gave additional statements saying Burke was more involved than she let on.

Riggins says he asked her repeatedly if she was involved, and she said no.

During cross examination, Riggins says firefighter Justin hill came to him saying he did not feel safe or comfortable at station and was having sleep issues. He was one of the rookies at the firehouse, he said.

Capt Tom Musselwhite was the next witness for city. He was ordered by the chief to conduct a criminal investigation on the incident.

Musselwhite says after looking at the video frame by frame, there was no doubt everyone but the rookie was involved.

He says Burke laughed, moved away from the camera so you could see the rookie, and she clapped at the end.

Burke's hearing began just after 9 a.m. at Macon City Hall.

In his opening statement, Judd Drake the city's attorney, said  Burke is guilty of improper conduct, breaking city guidelines, dishonest and disgraceful conduct.

Drake says video and testimony will show Burke failed to accept responsibility and was dishonest to the chief.

Burke's lawyer says the captain is a 25-year veteran of the department, who has never been never been disciplined and worked through the ranks.

She says Burke lost two months' pay and was demoted. They're asking the judge to overturn Chief Marvin Riggins' decision, restore her captain's rank and repay the days lost

Two firefighters have already had their appeal hearings. Josh Brewer who video-taped the incident was demoted and suspended. Christopher Hughes, who says he brought the gun used in the video, was fired.

Firefighters allegedly staged the stunt as a hazing prank, and the video was posted to YouTube.

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Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here, here, here, here & here

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Joshua Brewer, a  Macon-Bibb County sergeant who was demoted to firefighter and suspended for ten weeks, and Chris Hughes, a firefighter who was fired, went before Judge Bob Herndon yesterday to appeal the discipline handed out by Chief Marvin Riggins after a rookie prank was made public on YouTube in September. According to news reports, Brewer, Hughes and their attorney James Radford made the case that there has been a long culture of hazing in the department. The men told the judge they were just following the direction of then Captain Stephanie Burke who was acting battalion chief the day a friend of Hughes' burst into the station pointing a fake gun and ordered everyone on the floor.

Chief Riggins testified that both men were candid and upfront about their involvement when interviewed during the investigation. According to the chief's testimony, Stephanie Burke did not admit she was involved in the planning. Riggins said it was later determined Burke had been dishonest and her original five day suspension was increased to 20 days and she was demoted to lieutenant.

More from WMAZ.com:

The lawyer for the two firefighters, James Radford, said that the punishment for their roles in the prank were "excessive" because a superior, Capt. Stephanie Burke, helped organize the hoax.

Hughes testified that Burke started planning the prank three days earlier and had tried and failed to obtain a gun. Hughes said he brought the gun to work instead.

Riggins says neither Hughes nor Brewer implicated Captain Burke when he initially interviewed them, but in follow-up interviews they said she played an important part in the hoax.

Riggins testified that Burke told him she didn't know how the prank happened.

Riggins says Hughes had several previous policy violations and suspensions and said he made the decision to terminate him after looking at the whole picture.

The Chief said the prank was meant to scare two rookie firefighters and that one of them was "psychologically upset" by the fake shooting.

Hughes testified that a similar prank occurred when he was a rookie firefighter and that Stephanie Burke planned it. She was then a lieutenant.

Here is more from Amy Leigh Womack's article on Macon.com:

When asked why Hughes’ conduct warranted termination, Riggins said “I felt that the behavior and conduct of Mr. Hughes was inexcusable. He had totally crossed the line.”

Riggins admitted that he couldn’t recall an instance in which a firefighter was fired or demoted as a result of a similar prank.

Brewer said supervisors used the examples of pranks involving firefighters’ genitals when explaining the anti-hazing policy, which was revised last year.

As for their claim they were following directions of Captain Burke, Chief Riggins testified that a grievance process is available for those questioning decisions by supervisors.

The judge says he will have a ruling within ten days of receiving the transcripts from the hearing. Stephanie Burke's appeal of her demotion and suspension is scheduled for January.

(UPDATE: It took about 24-hours, but someone has now decided having this video on the web was not such a good idea.)

The video is self-explanatory. What I can't explain is why anyone would post this to YouTube.

I think this is self explanatory.

Read entire article from Macon.com

Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here, here, here & here

Macon.com's Amy Leigh Womack is once again breaking news on the fake gunman prank uploaded to YouTube at Macon-Bibb County (GA) Fire Department Station 108 that resulted in one firefighter being fired and others being demoted. Reviewing documents received through an Open Records Act request, Womack is reporting that Chief Marvin Riggins initially gave Capt. Stephanie Burke minimal punishment of a two shift suspension despite the report of Capt. Tom Musselwhite investigating the incident that Burke had full knowledge of the prank ahead of time.

In an interview Chief Riggins told Womack, “I trusted my firefighters and my officers to tell me the truth.”

Reading Womack's article you get the indication that in reality Chief Riggins trusted only some of his officers. He believed Capt. Burke, but not Capt. Musselwhite.

Here's Burke's initial account:

In a Sept. 19 written statement, then-Capt. Burke said she had heard talk of firefighters playing a joke on a rookie at her Peake Road station. But when a masked gunman entered the station, she said, she was as surprised as the rookie.

“I ran to get away,” she wrote.

According to the article, Burke wrote she soon realized it was a joke that they were possibly playing on her. She apologized for not taking decisive action but “whatever my punishment is, just know I was not directly involved.”

So, that's what Chief Riggins believed, despite the person in charge of the investigation telling him otherwise. More from Womack:

Fire Capt. Tom Musselwhite wrote in his investigative report, dated Sept. 20, that in his opinion, all the firefighters involved in the prank were knowing participants except for the rookies.

Riggins admitted Wednesday that he didn’t believe Burke was a knowing participant in the hoax when he ordered her to be punished with two days of suspension while other firefighters involved in the video received punishments ranging from longer unpaid suspensions to demotion and termination.

It was only after additional evidence became public, showing a longer video and text messages reported to be from Burke, that the captain was demoted to lieutenant and given a two month suspension. Womack reports Lt. Burke will now be assigned to the Fire Prevention Division.

Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here, here & here

Read Christopher Hughes' text messages about prank via Macon.com

From WMAZ-TV's Bernard O'Donnell:

Macon-Bibb firefighter Christopher Hughes, fired for his part in a videotaped hazing stunt, says he didn't plan the hoax shooting.

He says it was planned by fire Capt. Stephanie Burke, who now faces demotion and loss of 60 days' pay in the viral-video case.

Hughes spoke to 13WMAZ's Amy Aubert Friday afternoon. He said hazing stunts, like the Sept. 25 hoax at Fire Station 108, are not unusual.

He said, when he was a rookie firefighter, he was fooled himself by a similar stunt six years ago. He says that stunt was also planned by Burke.

He says this is one of at least three similar stunts in the department over the years, and no one was ever punished.

Hughes said he lit firecracker after being grabbed by the "gunman".

Hughes says he has text messages from Burke that show she asked him to supply a fake gun for the hoax.

Fire Chief Marvin Riggins says he fired Hughes because he supplied the weapon used in the video.

Hughes says he thinks he's being punished more severely because he's lower in rank than Burke.

On Thursday, mayoral spokesman Clay Murphey said Riggins was told that Burke knew of the stunt in advance, but Burke denied it. In any case, Murphey said, the chief believes Burke should have acted to stop it.

We could not reach Burke for comment. She has until Monday to appeal Riggins' punishment.:

Read previous coverage of this story here, here, here & here

I had written privately to some fire service friends that something wasn't making sense after punishment was handed out  following the hoax robbery and shooting prank at Macon-Bibb County Fire Department Station 108 on September 18. How did the captain on that shift, who was seen in the video, get away with just a two day suspension when others were demoted and fired?

The indication from city officials was that Captain Stephanie Burke didn't have prior knowledge of the prank. Okay, but the chief said he didn't know about the video until the press started asking questions on September 19. Isn't the fact that the chief didn't hear from the captain or through the chain of command about this incident enough in itself to take some pretty severe action against the captain?

Well apparently there are bigger issues about Captain Burke's role than just my question. In fact, she is now Lieutenant Burke. And instead of a 2 shift suspension, Burke now has 20 shifts off. That's the equivalent of two months' pay. A spokesman for the mayor says the more severe discipline came from additional information provided to Fire Chief Marvin Riggins.

Macon.com reporter Amy Leigh Womack has been talking with the only firefighter to be fired because of the prank, Chris Hughes. Hughes showed Womack what he says are text messages between him and Burke.

The messages are associated with the same phone number Burke answered Thursday afternoon.

Hughes said the plan for the prank began Sept. 16, two days before the incident. He and Burke were working together and she asked him to obtain a “fake” gun.

The following day, Hughes sent a text message to Burke: “I got the fake gun.”

She replied, “Ok, calling Levi back.”

Hughes explained Thursday that a man named Levi, whose last name he didn’t provide, helped plan a similar prank in the past.

The gunman seen in this month’s prank was Hughes’ friend, not a firefighter, Hughes said.

Womack reports there were more text messages between Burke and Hughes after Chief Riggins began his investigation. Womack's interview with the former firefighter brings out some other interesting twists to this story. Click here to read the entire article and see all the messages on Hughes' phone.

From WMAZ.com:

One Macon-Bibb firefighter faces termination in connection with a prank video staged at a fire station.

That's according to a news release from the mayor's office on behalf of Fire Chief Marvin Riggins.

Four other firefighters will be suspended and a sergeant will be demoted for taking part in the video, which Riggins calls "notoriously disgraceful."

The release says:

Firefighter Christopher Hughes will be suspended with pay for five (5) days pending termination with a discharge review. He's accused of violating City Guideline 807 employee conduct and discipline, 807 C2, C12 and C13; Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order 21, which prohibits the use of personal items on the premises which may create a hazard to other firefighters and/or guest; and volations of Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order 26 which prohibits hazing, initiations, and/or other types of physical confrontations.

The release does not describe Hughes' involvement in the case.

Sgt. Joshua Brewer will be demoted and suspended for 10 shifts.  He's accused of violating City Guideline 807 C2 and also Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order 26.

These three firefighters will be suspended for 10 shifts for the same two alleged violations: Christopher Houston, Mark Swain and Jesse White

Lt. Timothy Pruitt  will be issued a "counseling statement" concerning management and behavior of his assigned personnel.

Capt. Stephanie Burke will receive a two-shift suspension concerning "management and behavior of her assigned personnel" and station morale.

Battalion Chief James Wallace will be issued a written reprimand.

The department says a 10-shift suspension is equal to 30 days without pay and a two-day suspension is one week without pay.

Below is the text of the news release via WMGT-TV:

After much deliberation of all of the facts and issues surrounding the incident that happened at Macon-Bibb County Fire Station #108 on September 18, 2011, we have concluded that disciplinary action is warranted.

The pending disciplinary actions will be handed down as follows:

Firefighter Christopher Hughes will be suspended with pay for five (5) days pending termination with a discharge review,  for violation of City Guideline 807 employee conduct and discipline, 807 C2, C12 and C13.  He is also in violation of Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order #21 which prohibits the use of personal items on the premises which may create a hazard to other firefighters and/or guest. Violations of Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order #26 which prohibits hazing, initiations, and/or other types of physical confrontations.

Sgt. Joshua Brewer will be demoted and he will be issued a ten (10) day (Shift Equivalent) suspension for a violation of City Guideline 807 C2 and also Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order #26.

Firefighters Christopher Houston, Mark Swain and Jesse White will be issued a ten (10) day (Shift Equivalent) suspension for violation of City Guideline 807 C2 and also Macon-Bibb County Fire Department General Order #26.

Lt. Timothy Pruitt will be issued a counseling statement as it relates to the management and behavior of his assigned personnel.

Captain Stephanie Burke will receive a two (2) day (Shift Equivalent) suspension as it relates to the management and behavior of her assigned personnel and station espree decor. (Note: I believe they mean "esprit de corps". Not sure if this error is the work of the city or the TV station)

Battalion Chief James Wallace will be issued a written reprimand.

The commission of this notoriously disgraceful act towards their fellow employees, this organization and this community I find appalling. And again I wish to reiterate that this is in no means an overall perspective of our firefighters and this organization.  We remain committed to our mission, our vision and our purpose as a first class organization."

For clarification, a Ten Day suspension is equal to Thirty (30) days without pay and a Two Day suspension is One week without pay.

Within the City of Macon, there is an appeals process that each employee has a right to avail themselves of, if they so choose.

Previous coverage on STATter911.com here & here

Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said in a Tuesday afternoon press conference that discipline that could include firings or demotions may come as early as today (Wednesday) in the aftermath of the video posted on YouTube Sunday evening of a prank targeting two rookies at Station 108. Riggins said five of the seven firefighters present were in on the hoax involving a man with a gun, but the rookies were not. The chief says he spoke with the two rookies. Riggins said while they were frightened they are taking the incident in stride.

WMAZ-TV reports the Bibb County Sheriff's Department looked into the incident but Sheriff Jerry Modena says no crime was committed.

From WMAZ-TV:

Macon Bibb Fire Chief Marvin Riggins says some firefighters could lose their jobs or their rank over a prank video filmed in a Bibb County fire station.

Macon Bibb Fire Chief Marvin Riggins says he is "appalled" by a prank video filmed in a Bibb County fire station.

He said at least five firefighters were involved in the prank, which involved a hoax shooting staged at Fire Station 108.  He says a firecracker was used to simulate the sound of a gunshot.

From Macon.com: 

Firefighters talking outside at the Peake Road station where the prank was filmed went inside Tuesday morning when a Telegraph reporter and photographer arrived. Later, someone could be seen peeking through blinds at the front of the station.

Capt. Stephanie Burke answered the door and said that firefighters had been instructed to refer all comment to Riggins or the mayor’s office.

Although firefighters involved in the incident weren’t on administrative leave Tuesday, Riggins said he expects disciplinary action will be taken within the next 24 hours.

Authorities are still trying to identify the masked person seen in the video, and they are checking to see if that person is a Macon police officer or a Bibb County sheriff’s deputy.

Earlier coverage & comments about this video

It is rare that you find near unanimity in the STATter911.com comments section, but this video from Macon-Bibb County Fire Department's Station 108 has done the trick. So far today, with more than 60 comments, there have been three major themes:

1. This was a bad stunt to even think about performing.

2. It was a terrible idea to have a camera rolling while this was going on.

3. It was even a worse idea to post the video to YouTube (and with credits!!!). 

The video was added to YouTube Sunday evening, removed about 12-hours later, and then reposted by someone else. In the meantime, besides being seen on STATter911.com, FireCritic.com, Firefighter Nation and now Firehouse.com, it also caught the attention of the local news media this morning. They have been in touch with the fire department and the mayor's office. 

In an updated more detailed article for Tuesday' paper here's what Macon.com reporter Amy Leigh Womack got from Chief Marvin Riggins and other city officials:

Riggins first viewed the video about 11:50 a.m. with Macon’s chief administrative officer, Thomas Thomas, and mayoral spokesman Clay Murphey.

  

It was clear that the video exhibited behavior “that would not be condoned in his department,” Murphey said of the chief’s reaction. “I imagine there will be repercussions.”

Riggins said he’s “deeply saddened” by the video.

“This isn’t the way we treat our employees,” he said.  Riggins said he didn’t know the identity of the original poster who used the online handle “FirefighterBoomer519.”

The department has policies prohibiting hazing and firearms, he said.

Macon.com also talked to County Commissioner Lonzy Edwards who heads the Public Safety Committee:

Besides the video seemingly showing public safety employees in positions of responsibility wasting time paid for by taxpayers, Edwards noted that it also comes at a time when Macon and Bibb County have been trying to find solutions to recent gun violence.

WMAZ-TV talked to the mayor's spokesman, Clay Murphey:

Murphey says the chief recognized several of the firefighters in the video, including a captain, and believes it is authentic.

At the end, it rolls a list of credits. Murphey says all of the names are employees of the fire department.