‘Rookie Prank’: This is the Fake Shooting Video That Could Get Some GA Firemen Fired
- Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:02am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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MACON, Ga. (The Blaze/AP) — A central Georgia fire chief says five of the seven firefighters seen in a prank video showing a gunman were in on it, and two rookies were not.
The video, titled “Rookie prank,” shows a masked man bursting into a fire station and threatening firefighters with a gun. It was posted Sunday on YouTube.
[Content Warning: Contains graphic language]
The Telegraph of Macon reports (http://bit.ly/pFWFLV ) that Macon-Bibb County Fire Chief Marvin Riggins said he expects disciplinary action will be taken by Wednesday.
Riggins said he’s appalled by the video, which shows scared firefighters face-down on the ground as a man with a yellow bandana over his face waves a gun. At one point, the gunman leads a firefighter away from his spot on the ground. Moments later, the sound of a gunshot is heard.
“This is where the line is drawn,” Riggins said of the “prank that got out of hand.”
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Comments (86)
WatchingThePuppetShow
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:48amYeah this is not funny…I would be PISSED if they did that to me.
Report Post »AKA Pablo
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:45amAs a firefighter and union member I agree this is out of line. The officers involved had a serious lack of judgement, if they had foreknowledge of this event. Regardless, they are responsible for setting the tone on their shift and with their crew, disciplinary action at the least, including demotion for the officers.
Report Post »Pranks are a part of the fire service culture but there is a point that we say that it is going too far, it went too far here.
AmericanStrega
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:59amAs a firefighter and union member I agree this is out of line. The officers involved had a serious lack of judgement, if they had foreknowledge of this event. Regardless, they are responsible for setting the tone on their shift and with their crew, disciplinary action at the least, including demotion for the officers.
Pranks are a part of the fire service culture but there is a point that we say that it is going too far, it went too far here.
AKA PABLO;
Report Post »Disciplinary action as well as demotion for the officers? Are you kidding? All involved in this so-called prank should be fired, lose their pensions, never be allowed to work as a firefighter, etc. ever again! This was way beyond the pale.
capitalideals
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:28pmI am a retired firefighter, and over the years I witnessed many hazing incidents (I never was involved, don’t believe in them). This incident was WAY more intense than any I had witnessed in 30 years in a dept about 80 miles north of Macon. Somebody could have gotten seriously injured if one of the firefighters had decided to take a stand and defend himself with whatever was on hand for self defense…..I don’t think they should be fired, but they should get some time off to think about what they did.
Report Post »Wishkah
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 5:39pmyou all are taking this far too seriously… they are grown men releasing some stress and bonding… no one was hurt.. sheesh… chill out..
Report Post »Attention2Detail
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:35amI don’t get it; when Geraldo fakes being under attack, he’s a big hero, but when firemen do it they need to be disciplined. I guess if they had sent it to Fox News as a real episode rather than YouTube as a prank they would have been OK.
Report Post »Monfang
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:43amWhen has he faked being under attack? How do you fake it? Do you have proof?
Report Post »DreadPirate
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:17amMaking the toilet leak isn’t dangerous? What about mold growth? Somebody could slip and hurt themselves. These guys are in their fire station. It’s NOT a public place. It’s not someplace that just anybody is going to walk into. These guys were having some fun; probably after a long, hot, hard day. Cut ‘em some damn slack.
Report Post »BrerRabbit
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:09amThere is nothing about Macon that is funny. It is a cesspool!
Report Post »Jethro212
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:08amIf you think this doesn’t happen in Police Stations and Fire Halls all over the USA, I have a bridge for sale in New York and Obama is the smartest man ever.
I seriously hope they don’t lose their jobs, was it stupid? Maybe. But you should talk to some old timers that were in the Military, I know a guy that his CO stole an entire wing of new fighters and gave the old ones they had to the folks they stole the new jets from.
Report Post »SAJ
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:56amIt would not happen at a police station – someone would get shot…..
Report Post »Stoic one
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:18ambummer is going to stand in front of a bridge on Thurs in Cincinnati. he is offering to buy votes for a billion bucks.
Report Post »INTEGRITYJCS
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 1:25pmHow is this a prank? I always thought pranks should be funny. If someone pulls a gun (joking or not) they better be prepaired to be shot. For someone not “in on it”, there‘s not difference in what they’re going through than any other by-stander involved in any gas station hold-up. Both just as traumatic during the incident, so where’s the “prank”?
Report Post »I teach my kids to respect the firefighters, respect the police, respect the military, and respect each other. I don’t see how anyone could respect this waste of inteligence. Imagine all the qualified people who aren’t idiots that would love to have those jobs!
Rocky_Top
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 8:59pmI was in the Navy. I think that it is better to know what people will do when the shxx hits the fan in a controlled set up. Not everyone can do this type of work. We need to send them home sooner rather than later. These are first responders. They can’t crack under presure. When I lived in a small town in GA I wanted to be a fireman. I changed my mind after learning that I would have to start out in Atlanta cleaning dead people off the streets.
Also , Macon GA is in the process of taking away gun rights.
Report Post »mikenleeds
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:04amthat s a everyday live in Birmingham
Report Post »LUCK THE FEFT
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:03amIs there not any level of professionalism left in this world?
Report Post »DreadPirate
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:07amWhat? These guys aren’t allowed to have some fun and blow off some steam. Crap, people take things too seriously these days.
Report Post »JLGunner
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:41amWhat if someone had a gun and shot the fake robber? How funny would that be? With our Second Amendment under attack from Hillary Clinton to barack and so many others, do we really need to give them more ffeul for their fire?
Report Post »Infidel49
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:46amThat is not a prank.
Report Post »Attention2Detail
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:37amI think that this is the definition of prank. This is just part of the whole gun histeria bit.
Report Post »jedi.kep
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:45amWho are you kidding? Everybody loves a good prank, unless they are the ones being pranked. It is always funny to watch grown men scream like girls.
Report Post »rightwinger76
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:24amThis was no prank. That “prankster” would have received a double tap to the chest if he tried that stunt in the company of real men.
Report Post »felix
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:39amwhat do ya expect from blacks – perfect fit
Report Post »DreadPirate
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:10amFelix, what the hell is that supposed to mean? What does skin color have to do with it? It’s a bunch of firefighters blowing off some steam. Stop being a racist dillweed. Not true conservative is racist; a true conservative BELIEVES in the Constitution, the Declaration and all other things this country stands for. EQUAL freedom. Not freedom for everybody EXCEPT a few…Historically, the Democrats have always been the party of the racists. I think maybe you’re on the wrong site.
Report Post »Keith B
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:14amAre you some sort of Troll? I’ll speak for myself, I hope to never see you comment again bigot.
felix
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:26amyour reply is correct about conservatives etc. but – so far, we are still free to be as racist any of us wants to be – durf-wad
Report Post »HuskerDave
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:27amShame on you. This has nothing to do with ethnicity.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:29amI see you did finally figure out the reply button though! Good work! Here I held no hope for you at all…
Report Post »felix
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:35amtrolldrainer – your boy toy needs your help
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:26amYou are right Felix. Your mama is in desperate need of more meth but I refuse to play along any more. Get her out of my house now!
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 2:13pmYou need more meth too? Sorry, like I told your mama, I dont hang with dopers. See ya.
Report Post »SgtB
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:31amThis prank could have gone extremely wrong if one of those firefighters was a real man and had planned accordingly and been carrying a loaded handgun. I’m all for pranks, but something like this is out of line. I would’ve shot or stabbed the guy, and that would’ve ended the prank portion of the day.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:23amMy thoughts too. This is GA, they are open carry. OTOH a fire department would be considered a government building…
Even so, a prank like this is the height of stupefying and could easily get someone killed.
Report Post »trolltrainer
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:30amstupidity…
It may just be me but sometimes I think what is posted is not what I typed…
Report Post »V-MAN MACE
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:30amMan…what the hell…
Report Post »SpankDaMonkey
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:28am.
Report Post »A CHL would have made this ugly…………
Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:26amWow! Who is dumb enough to do stuff like this in 2011?
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:24amSorry to hear about walking into a robbery, hope no one got hurt by the crooks.
Report Post »NuffSaid
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:21amI understand the part with the gun, noisy entry, knock the innocent guy to the floor-sets the tone for the scene. But, when the shooter grabs his Johnson and starts to sidestep stage right, I kind of lost the narrative thread…
Fire them? I don’t think so. I think they need to sentence these guys to the Atlanta Public Schools where their teachers change the answers on their tests so the District Superintendent can get bonuses and National Awards from the Obama Administration.
Funny and kind of ironic, isn’t it?
The Union army burned Atlanta Georgia to the ground in 1864.
In 2011, Union firefighter are about to permit the fires to burn again.
Who, or what is running Georgia? (…into the ground)l
Report Post »SgtBarrett
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:20amIdiots.
Report Post »Snowleopard {gallery of cat folks}
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:24amIndeed, imagine if a real law officer walked in on this while the video was being made; the outcome could have been dramatically for real instead of the idiocy demonstrated here.
Report Post »dwh320
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:19amTerminate all involved. What happens the next time when this may be real and the “rookie” fails to respond right thinking its just another prank. They are being paid to WORK not play games and put peoples lives in danger.
Report Post »DreadPirate
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:14amThese guys work 24 hour shifts in a tough, often thankless job. You could cut ‘em some slack. This was a prank. Plain and simple. It wasn’t dangerous. You pansies that think it is need to live some life instead of shutting yourself behind locked doors and cowering in the corner.
Report Post »rightwinger76
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 11:31am@dreadbuttpirate
Report Post »We pay these guys to do a job. Not to act like thugs in the hood. As a concealed pistol license holder, my handling of the situation would have been much different than what was recorded. As I saw it, the firemen in the video were the ones cowering fearfully in the corner.
Speak without Fear
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:18amJust a little UNION fun……(eyeroll)
Report Post »thetommyhawk
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:16amN —–s !
Report Post »UBETHECHANGE
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:13amThis is appalling and not funny. Glad they got canned, good riddance aholes.
Report Post »cemerius
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:53amHaven’t been fired yet…they are UNION after all!
Report Post »Thrill Biscuit
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:08amThey should’ve hired George Lucas to change the video digitally. lol
Report Post »SgtBarrett
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:19amIdiots. Where is the dignity and honor that goes with being a fireman? I have friends who are firemen and they would NEVER go along with this stupidity!! It’s just not in them to be this idiotic! What a disgrace!
Report Post »DreadPirate
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 10:21amSarge, you’re full of crap. Firefighters do this kind of stuff all the time and if you think it’s 2011 thing, you’re dead wrong. My grand-dad was friends with the Captain of the very first City of Phoenix Fire Station and I heard a similar story from him that took place in the early 1900′s. This is just some guys having fun. How does this detract from their dignity any more than cellophane over a toilet seat? Get a life, have some fun. Don’t take yourself so seriously, you’ll have a heart attack.
Report Post »13th Imam
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:06amI personally like the prank of lighting a paper bag full of Barry, putting it on someones front porch( Concrete) and lighting it on fire. (Nightime, Halloweeen)for you people in Rio Linda.
No pranks with weapons
Report Post »crackerone
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:05amWhere‘s the guy from Walgreen’s?
Report Post »Socialism_Is_The_New_Black
Posted on September 21, 2011 at 9:28amIs Macon trapped in the pre-political correctness 80′s?
Report Post »