The Chief said the prank was meant to scare two rookie firefighters and that one of them was "psychologically upset" by the fake shooting.
Brewer said he's seen about 20 firefighter pranks and no one was disciplined for the others.
An administrative law judge did not immediately rule after hearing appeals Wednesday of two Macon-Bibb firefighters punished for their role in a firehouse prank.
Judge Robert Herndon heard testimony in the appeals from firefighter Chris Hughes and Sgt. Joshua Brewer. They admit taking part in a fake shooting at Fire Station 108 that was videotaped and ended up on YouTube.
Fire Chief Marvin Riggins fired Hughes and ordered Brewer demoted and suspended for 10 weeks.
Judge Herndon says he will wait to receive the transcripts of the hearing and then rule within 10 days afterward.
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.
Brewer testified that Burke showed him where to put the camera to videotape the prank, but he said he didn't think the prank violated the department's no hazing policy.
"It was all just a emotional, just scare you a little bit, and once we scare you a little bit, 'hey we're going to call it off," said Brewer. "It wasn't any kind of physical horseplay or hazing."
The defense presented a record of what it said were Burke's text messages to Hughes after officials learned of the prank. In those messages, Burke is said to urge Hughes not to admit that he knew a gun would be used.
She allegedly asks Hughes to say the prank was planned at the last minute and that she didn't know about it in advance.
Hughes said he told the truth instead.
He said he still has the original text messages.
Chief Riggins was the first witness for the city of Macon.
"Chief Riggins considered the totality of the circumstances involving each individual, " said Asst. City Attorney Judd Drake. "Considering the matter at hand and the incident that occurred at the end of Sept. at the fire station and also their past disciplinary records."
Riggins says he heard about the incident on Sept. 19, the day after it happened at the fire station on Peake Road.
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.
Hughes says no one was disciplined for that prank.
Brewer testified that he's seen about 20 pranks at fire stations and are mostly meant to scare someone. Brewer calls it a culture of the fire department to prank each other. He said no one was disciplined for the previous pranks he's seen.
Radford asked the judge to reinstate Brewer as sergeant and approve back pay. He asked for Hughes to be reinstated fully or for a probationary period.
"Both these men realize that they should not have done what they did on that day and they feel bad about it," said Radford. "They regret it. Our feeling is that the discipline carried out was too harsh."
He says they both firefighters understand that the prank was a bad decision.
Drake says two other appeal hearings are scheduled for January including one for Burke.