Update (01/20/2023) – GS
In late October 2021, actor Alec Baldwin left the world in shock when he accidentally fired a firearm behind the scenes of the film Rust and ended up killing one person and leaving another injured.
At the time, it was revealed that the accident happened while the actor was practicing removing a revolver from the holster to aim at the camera during rehearsal in the recordings, believing that it was a scenographic weapon.
This week, it was revealed that the actor will be charged with manslaughter for the shooting, the Santa Fe area district attorney said in a press release. Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who oversaw the weapons used in the film, faces the same charge in the incident, according to District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. Charges will likely be filed by the end of the month.
Under New Mexico law, manslaughter is punishable by up to 18 months in prison. First assistant director David Halls has agreed to plead guilty to the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, the statement said.
Halls and Gutierrez Reed handled the weapon before handing it over to Baldwin on the day of the incident, noted The Wall Street Journal.
In an emailed statement to CNET, attorneys for Gutierrez Reed said the allegations “are the result of a very flawed investigation and an inaccurate understanding of all the facts.”
For now, we can only wait for the trial to find out what the verdict of the investigations will be.
Update (10/25/2021) by LL
Rust: Alec Baldwin was practicing with an allegedly inoperative gun when he shot and killed people on set
The controversy involving Alec Baldwin on the set of Rust, Joel Souza’s new film, and the death of a person has just been clarified. According to a warrant for search and seizure of the investigation, the actor practiced removing a revolver from the holster to aim at the camera during rehearsal on the recordings.
Baldwin, lead actor, producer and screenwriter of the feature film, thought the pistol was scenographic. However, when the gun fired, a bullet hit director of photography Halyna Hutchins in the chest and killed her. He received the gun and production ensured it was unloaded.
Officer Joel Souza told police that someone had identified the weapon as a “cold gun”, meaning it had no working cartridges. But instead, the item went off, hitting Hutchins in the chest and him in the right shoulder.
It’s worth noting that the situation came about after former production members raised concerns about safety conditions on set. Two professionals even told the LA Times that, less than a week before, a stuntman had fired two accidental shots from a scenographic weapon after being informed that it was “inoperative”.
Original text (10/22/2021)
Rust: Alec Baldwin accidentally shoots and kills one person, injuring another
Hollywood and the rest of the world were in shock this week when news broke that one person had died and another was injured on the set of Rust, director Joel Souza’s new film.
The subject quickly took over social networks, until it was discovered that the one who fired the gun was actor Alec Baldwin, protagonist, producer and screenwriter of the feature.
Police in Santa Fe, New Mexico, reported early Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin was involved in an incident on the set of the movie Rust.
Baldwin fired a prop gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza.
#BREAKING: @santafesheriff investigating incident at #rust movie set on Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. pic from @KOB4 #Chopper4 shows an old church set blocked off, and set security confirms its lockdown. Other pic of Rust cast/crew. pic.twitter.com/8Cw9eg8kec
— Tessa Mentus (@TessaMentus) October 21, 2021
Hutchins, 42, was hit in the abdomen and transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she resisted for a few moments before dying.
Meanwhile, Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Louis Regional Medical Center. Vincent in Santa Fe, where he received emergency treatment for his injuries and was later released.
Director Joel Souza told me he’s out of hospital.
— Frances Fisher (@Frances_Fisher) October 22, 2021
Baldwin was questioned by the police and released. No one was arrested and no complaints were filed, with the case being defined by authorities as an accident. Despite this, the Santa Fe police say that investigations remain open and that they will investigate the facts to understand what really happened.
According to Deadline sources, Baldwin did not know the type of ammunition that was loaded in the gun. Traditionally, on a film set, the first Assistant Director is responsible for set security, with the Head of Props in charge of firearms.
The production of the film will be interrupted indefinitely and everyone involved in the recordings will receive psychological support.
This isn’t the first time an on-set death has been caused by a gunshot. Actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed on October 18, 1984, on the set of the TV series Cover Up, when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a loaded gun. And in 1993, Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died after a piece of a bullet was lodged in his spine by a gun fired on the set of The Crow by another actor.
The incident on the Rust set quickly took the social media by storm, becoming the top trending topic on Twitter and appearing in thousands of posts on Instagram and Facebook.
