Alec Baldwin's 'prop firearm' kills one, injures another

Sheriff's office: Alec Baldwin discharged prop gun that killed crew member, wounded director

Baldwin is one of the film's star actors and producers. He went to the sheriff's office willingly and provided a statement to investigators, sheriff's office spokesman Juan Ríos said.

www.santafenewmexican.com

archive.md/jNQZQ

Actor Alec Baldwin discharged a "prop firearm" that killed a cinematographer and injured a the director of the movie Rust, being filmed on a set south of Santa Fe, a county sheriff's office spokesman said late Thursday.

Halyna Hutchins, 42 and the director of photography for the movie, died at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The film's director, Joel Souza, was hospitalized in Santa Fe, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Juan Ríos said.

A source closed to the investigation said Baldwin, 63, was questioned by investigators late Thursday and was seen by a New Mexican reporter and photographer in tears.

Investigators are still trying to determine if the incident was an accident, Ríos said. No charges have been filed, and the investigation remains open, Ríos wrote in a news release.

The prop was fired at Bonanza Creek Ranch, where filming was underway, the sheriff's office said in an early evening news release. Baldwin stars in the production.

Hutchins died from her injuries after she was flown to University of New Mexico Hospital, according to the sheriff's office. Souza was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he is receiving emergency care, the sheriff's office said. Attempts to get comment from Baldwin were unsuccessful.

“We received the devastating news this evening, that one of our members, Halyna Hutchins, the Director of Photography on a production called ‘Rust’ in New Mexico died from injuries sustained on the set,” John Lindley, the president of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600, and Rebecca Rhine, the executive director, said in a statement, as reported by Variety. “The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event. This is a terrible loss, and we mourn the passing of a member of our Guild’s family.”

Deputies were investigating how the accident occurred and "what type of projectile was discharged," the sheriff's office said in an earlier news release.

Rust Movie Productions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Filming for Rust was set to continue into early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office. It's described as the story of a 13-year-old boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, with New Mexico doubling for Kansas.

Guns firing blanks have been blamed for deaths in past movie productions. Online Hollywood news site Deadline reported, "Actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed Oct. 18, 1984, on the set of the TV series Cover Up when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun loaded with blanks. And in 1993, Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died after he was shot in the head by a gun firing blanks on the set of The Crow. Both incidents were determined to have been accidents."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

 

[whoishomermynameis]

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2022/jan/06/nicolas-cage-gun-rust-shooting-alec-baldwin

On being asked whether guns should be banned from film sets in the wake of the Rust shooting, Cage responded by saying that “movie stars” needed to know how to perform certain activities that may be outside the experience of workaday actors.

“You need to know how to fight. You’re going to do fight scenes. You need to know how to ride a motorcycle. You need to know how to use a stick shift and drive sports cars, and you do need to know how to use a gun. You do. You need to take the time to know what the procedure is. Those are part of the job profiles.”

Nic Cage doing an impression of the standard Hollywood actor:

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

“You need to know how to fight. You’re going to do fight scenes. You need to know how to ride a motorcycle. You need to know how to use a stick shift and drive sports cars, and you do need to know how to use a gun. You do. You need to take the time to know what the procedure is. Those are part of the job profiles.”

Well... he ain't wrong. And it's interesting to see who's essentially disavowing Baldwin.

 

[Josterman]

Well... he ain't wrong. And it's interesting to see who's essentially disavowing Baldwin.

Thats going to be a long list and I got a new video of him

 

[Billy Beer]

The armourer wasn't allowed on to part of the set because of covid protocols and had to leave the gun for 15 minutes?

At that point it doesn't matter what she did or didn't do with it. 15 minutes is plenty of time to tamper with a gun.

 

[JohnDoe]

I have some .357 dummy rounds for practicing reloads on a SAA. It's a nickel coated brass case with a real bullet pressed and crimped, but instead of powder and primer, the case is full of neon colored silicone that protrudes through the primer pocket. It's safe for the firing pin due to the cushioning effect of the silicone, but would still look like a real live round through the front of the cylinder. You also have a bright neon visual aid to quickly determine that the round in inert.

If you're an armorer on a film set, no scratch that, if anyone responsible for any kind of firearms has a handful of rounds in front of them and they don't know for dead certain if they are dummy or live rounds then the only legitimate decision is to not use those rounds for anything. Holy fuck, how easy is the job of an armorer and why is this dumb bitch so bad at it?

 

[Desu Mountain]

She said that Covid protocols kept her from entering the church where filming was taking place, so she had to give up control of the gun 15 minutes before the shooting.

Ah, so it's a Covid death.

 

[Xarpho]

"Your honor and members of the jury, how was my client supposed to know that a cartridge that looked exactly like a live round was actually live. She shook the box while wearing a nametag that said 'armorer' on it. Clearly it was the box's fault."

What a shitshow this all is.

I know almost nothing about firearms but I’m pretty sure that to tell the difference between live and dummy rounds is not by shaking the box. Lives, blanks, and dummies look a bit different from each other and someone who’s supposed to know about firearms should know what they look like. All this is pointing to the fact that she is definitely incompetent and not just a stooge that’s being thrown under the bus.

Baldwin not wanting to turn in his phone isn’t proof of guilt, but there seems to be enough evidence that he knew how shoddy safety standards were on set. Seems that if he wanted to really save his own skin and not get roasted alive by a jury, he’d better cooperate.

Gutierrez seems to be of the mindset that she’s “remembering” new details, I can’t imagine she’d get out of this without getting roasted herself. Certainly HER career is over but I can also see her face some sort of criminal negligence charge.

 

[Dick Justice]

Wouldn't withholding the phone for just about any length of time be impeding an investigation?

 

[RodgerDodger]

Well... he ain't wrong. And it's interesting to see who's essentially disavowing Baldwin.

There's actually an interesting pattern to the stars coming out publicly and slamming Baldwin. It started with George Clooney. Many of those publicly speaking out or calling out the bullshit are second generation Hollywood Stars of a certain age. Clooney, Cage, these were all the kids of Hollywood who to some degree knew each other. Most particularly Brandon Lee was one of them. They know how and why their friend died on set. And they seem really offended at how Baldwin and the Rust Producers ignored or violated every single lesson learned from Brandon's Death, and then tried to spin it.

 

[WonderWino]

Looks like the media is finally starting to point out the fact he has refused to turn over his phone despite there being a warrant for it for over a month

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alec-baldwin-still-hasn-t-184701926.html

If anybody else refused to comply with a warrant for a month they'd be sitting in a cell long before now

 

[Snekposter]

The armourer wasn't allowed on to part of the set because of covid protocols and had to leave the gun for 15 minutes?

At that point it doesn't matter what she did or didn't do with it. 15 minutes is plenty of time to tamper with a gun.

This is proper firearms safety. You could be handed a Beretta with the magazine out, the slide locked back, and a cable run through through the action and out the mag well and locked in place, and you should still double-check just to make sure its not going to discharge. Thankfully its quite easy in that configuration, just needing you to hold the gun pointed down at the ground and you look into the open and empty chamber, but you still fucking check. There's a reason shooting ranges don't let you openly carry firearms in, simply because the only way to absolutely, 100% guarantee a gun won't go off is to not put your hands on it. Which of course has a 100% success rate in making sure firearms, even loaded ones, don't fire.

The stupidity contained in that statement should be criminal; that she'd think just shaking the whole box was good enough, is exactly how she ended up costing Hutchins her life.

But her lawyer is nearly as incompetent, outlining & admitting to her gross negligence at least twice, in the same statement. Someone needs to check his shyster credentials with the tribe.

So how many people now are in this fucking clown car of a Spider-Man meme pointing fingers at everyone but themselves?

 

[Billy Beer]

View attachment 2886578
This is proper firearms safety. You could be handed a Beretta with the magazine out, the slide locked back, and a cable run through through the action and out the mag well and locked in place, and you should still double-check just to make sure its not going to discharge. Thankfully its quite easy in that configuration, just needing you to hold the gun pointed down at the ground and you look into the open and empty chamber, but you still fucking check. There's a reason shooting ranges don't let you openly carry firearms in, simply because the only way to absolutely, 100% guarantee a gun won't go off is to not put your hands on it. Which of course has a 100% success rate in making sure firearms, even loaded ones, don't fire.

I agree 100%. A gun is always loaded. I stand by that Baldwin has ultimate responsibility here and his lack of experience with firearms has cost someone their lives. Even worse, he's trying to pin it on armourer thot saying "she's a young girl, she doesn't know firearms". She could be the most inept, useless, clueless fucking armourer that Hollywood has ever known, he still should have checked to make sure there wasn't a live round in it.

 

[Snekposter]

I agree 100%. A gun is always loaded. I stand by that Baldwin has ultimate responsibility here and his lack of experience with firearms has cost someone their lives. Even worse, he's trying to pin it on armourer thot saying "she's a young girl, she doesn't know firearms". She could be the most inept, useless, clueless fucking armourer that Hollywood has ever known, he still should have checked to make sure there wasn't a live round in it.

I fully concur. I just have a morbid curiosity about the entire chain of fuckups, since its apparent Baldwin is going to blame literally everything except his own inept handling. Which is darkly humorous since in his own arrogance, short-sightedness, and desire to penny-pinch and browbeat cast and crew during production means every fuck-up along the way can in part or full (mostly full) be laid at his feet as well. This is one of the biggest self-owns I have ever seen and to a man who fully deserves it, and my only regret is that Halyna Hutchins isn't alive to see it happen.

Especially since despite every single fuck-up that happened, all Alec Baldwin had to do was not fuck around with a firearm and Halyna Hutchins would still be alive.

 

[Billy Beer]

I fully concur. I just have a morbid curiosity about the entire chain of fuckups, since its apparent Baldwin is going to blame literally everything except his own inept handling. Which is darkly humorous since in his own arrogance, short-sightedness, and desire to penny-pinch and browbeat cast and crew during production means every fuck-up along the way can in part or full (mostly full) be laid at his feet as well. This is one of the biggest self-owns I have ever seen and to a man who fully deserves it, and my only regret is that Halyna Hutchins isn't alive to see it happen.

On top of that he was one of the producers who decided to hire another crew, because the original crew walked off set due to safety complaints. If that had have happened in a factory, and a worker died as a result, all managers responsible for that decision would be in jail now serving long, long sentences.

Especially since despite every single fuck-up that happened, all Alec Baldwin had to do was not fuck around with a firearm and Halyna Hutchins would still be alive.

This is the saddest part. A woman died, a husband alone and kids without a mother, all because some FAG block-headed fart-sniffing cunt couldn't follow HIS OWN RULES.

I don't want baldwin to go to jail, because that will make him face the consequences of his actions. Instead, i want him socially ostracised, black-listed from all new movies and for everyone to treat him like a leper. I want his mind to break until he does a full redemption arc and becomes #1 Gun safety guy in hollywood history and repays his debt by saving lives instead of taking them.

 

[Snekposter]

On top of that he was one of the producers who decided to hire another crew, because the original crew walked off set due to safety complaints. If that had have happened in a factory, and a worker died as a result, all managers responsible for that decision would be in jail now serving long, long sentences.

This is the saddest part. A woman died, a husband alone and kids without a mother, all because some FAG block-headed fart-sniffing cunt couldn't follow HIS OWN RULES.

I don't want baldwin to go to jail, because that will make him face the consequences of his actions. Instead, i want him socially ostracised, black-listed from all new movies and for everyone to treat him like a leper. I want his mind to break until he does a full redemption arc and becomes #1 Gun safety guy in hollywood history and repays his debt by saving lives instead of taking them.

Look, if we went into every fuckup Baldwin was responsible for, why we'd be adding another 85 pages to this thread. And no, I want Baldwin responsible. He doesn't believe in redemption for me and mine, so I'm just going to hold him to his own standards.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

There's actually an interesting pattern to the stars coming out publicly and slamming Baldwin. It started with George Clooney. Many of those publicly speaking out or calling out the bullshit are second generation Hollywood Stars of a certain age.

If I remember correctly, Cage is one of the last actors of that generation who's of the Steve McQueen-mold, so it's not really surprising he'd be one of the first to speak out against Baldwin.

As for Clooney; in one of the publicity interviews I saw for The American, he was asked a leading question by the eurotrash interviewer about what it's like using firearms in a movie & performing as if he's an expert, even though he's ostensibly against them. But instead of guns = bad, he went on at length about practicing safety, as well as the actual firearm scenes. I've been looking for that interview ever since he spoke up about Baldwin, but I can't remember who did the interview.

 

[RodgerDodger]

If I remember correctly, Cage is one of the last actors of that generation who's of the Steve McQueen-mold, so it's not really surprising he'd be one of the first to speak out against Baldwin.

As for Clooney; in one of the publicity interviews I saw for The American, he was asked a leading question by the eurotrash interviewer about what it's like using firearms in a movie & performing as if he's an expert, even though he's ostensibly against them. But instead of guns = bad, he went on at length about practicing safety, as well as the actual firearm scenes. I've been looking for that interview ever since he spoke up about Baldwin, but I can't remember who did the interview.

I believe Clooney was very close real life pre celebrity friends with Brandon Lee. His death hit Clooney hard, and has made him a rabid enforcer of on set safety rules of all types. Cage is known to be similarly a stickler for safety on set. That's what got him so pissed at the Armor Thot on her previous movie.

 

[Dan Abrams]

Looks like the media is finally starting to point out the fact he has refused to turn over his phone despite there being a warrant for it for over a month

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/alec-baldwin-still-hasn-t-184701926.html

If anybody else refused to comply with a warrant for a month they'd be sitting in a cell long before now

At this point, if the phone is so incriminating or embarrassing he should probably just "lose" it in the ocean and "accidentally" delete his Apple iCloud account and eat the extra charges for doing so. Whatever is on that phone clearly is not good.

Or the PD needs to grow a pair and go and arrest him before he has a chance to do that, if he hasn't already.

 

[RodgerDodger]

The Suffolk County NY cops seized the phone today. So things should be getting juicy again.

 

[SITHRAK!]

He has always been under investigation. My offer still stands that if he is found guilty, I am closing my KF account.

Your ‘offer’ was that if he was charged you’d log off the farms for six months. Good to know that if he’s also found guilty of any charges that you’ll close your KF account altogether.