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.

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

I beg to disagree. There’s a long history of incompetent officers half-assing homocide and suicide investigations

Orthopedic Surgeon I knew was on fishing trip at Vermjo, when a random guy dropped dead. County medical examiner was on vacation somewhere else. The sheriff found out Doc was a Doc and asked him if he thought it was a heart attack. Sheriff had him sign the death certificate after responding 'probably.'

Years later, I was at Doc's house when he died of a probable heart attack. I got interviewed by 2 different deputies, but the medical examiner declined to autopsy.

Largely depends on the department and the responding deputies. @RodgerDodger was interacting with a professional homicide unit.

 

[RodgerDodger]

I beg to disagree. There’s a long history of incompetent officers half-assing homocide and suicide investigations. I would go as far to suggest based on my experience and first hand accounts from current and retired officers over multiple states that the thorough investigations are the rarity. I want to remind everyone that the feds are nowhere near as competent and capable as they want you to believe.

It will actually depend a great deal on the locality and how many actual homicides they see a year, and the nature of them. I'll give you most cities these days simply write off "gunned down gang banger on a street corner" as Natural Causes. But no they don't half ass homicides. They may make mistakes. Especially before the Homicide guys get there. What you are stating is "long history of" which I take to mean "annecdotal" at best. I was in the actual room several times a year for just shy of 2 decades. trust me, yes there is a lot of stupidity and incompetence. But it is not in the way you imagine. It's more that they will fixate on things so incredibly trivial for hours.

As an example an actual conversation/interrogation I had with some detectives. They come to my office and slap a pair of scissors in a baggy on my desk. And I have to spend 2 hours going rounds over, yes they are ours. Yes they were likely dropped on a crime scene.as we were trying to save the victims life. Yes I am sure. How am I sure? Because they have color coded tape on them that tells me which ambulance they came from. What did we use them for? They're bandage scissors? We use them to cut the patients clothing off so we can bandage the wound. Yes we are allowed to do that. No it is not evidence tampering if they are still technically alive when we do that. Where do we get them? We order them from a medical supply catalog. Where do we get the colored tape? Yes once again I am positive they are ours. Did anybody else see us use the scissors? You do realize the victim was shot, not stabbed with scissors right? Why are their no fingerprints on the scissors? Because we are required to wear gloves when treating patients. Ah yes, gloves exactly like the one you have in the baggie...

It gets much worse in an incident that has media attention. As for the Fed's? I've met them. Trust me when I say you never want to be in a room with a dead Mafia Guy for any reason. No matter how long after the fact it is. The Feds are mostly worthless in a homicide investigation. The FBI field guys spend their time chasing cameras to stand in front of.

 

[Mike Stoklasa]

Hey man; I'm just putting my money where my mouth is; that's all.

I know a lot of fellas on here would like to see my ass in a sling, so why not dangle a carrot? Lets make it a little fun.

I SAID CHILL OUT, MOTHERFUCKER.

 

[SITHRAK!]

There’s a long history of incompetent officers half-assing homocide and suicide investigations.

The OJ Simpson and Derek Chauvin cases immediately come to mind.
OJ because evidence collection and storage was totally fucked up, leading to sufficient doubt.
Chauvin because there was a pre-determination of facts and the supposedly-neutral investigative apparatus (especially the coroner) went along with it.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Orthopedic Surgeon I knew was on fishing trip at Vermjo, when a random guy dropped dead. County medical examiner was on vacation somewhere else. The sheriff found out Doc was a Doc and asked him if he thought it was a heart attack. Sheriff had him sign the death certificate after responding 'probably.'

Years later, I was at Doc's house when he died of a probable heart attack. I got interviewed by 2 different deputies, but the medical examiner declined to autopsy.

Largely depends on the department and the responding deputies. @RodgerDodger was interacting with a professional homicide unit.

OK there's an important element that you kind of missed there. Not every death is a Homicide. 99.9% of the time when someone, especially a male roughly 45 or above simply drops dead it is generally some variant of Natural causes. Without any overt signs of trauma or the involvement of another human in the death there normally aren't too many questions that get asked. Because it's not considered a homicide. It's simply a death. When the Sheriff asked your Doctor friend to sign the Death Certificate it wasn't to give a formal forensic diagnosis on why the guy died. That's not what a death certificate is. It was simply to certify that the person was in fact dead under expert medical authority, and mark the time he was certified as dead. This is something any doctor in theory can and will do (although you may want to get a second opinion if the Doctor is a Radiologist.) That's it. That's all that a death certificate is. "He's Dead jim" in writing. It's the literal opposite of a Birth Certificate. Nothing more. If there are no signs of foul play most deaths will be ruled Natural Causes and any decisions regarding autopsy will be left to the family. The Sheriff asked your Doctor friend to sign the Death Certificate because the Sheriff under most circumstances declare someone dead. So without your friends certifying the death on site, the Sheriff would have had to call in an Ambulance and have the victim transported to the hospital to be declared dead, or call in the Coroner from the next county to drive all the way out to make the call.

Later when your friend died that was a witnessed cardiac arrest. A witnessed death by natural causes. They interviewed you, found your story credible and consistent with the scene and the patient and left it at that. That's how most death's go. When a roofer falls off a roof and three co-workers and the homeowner see him fall they don't need to get homicide involved. Shit happens. Not every death is a police matter beyond the basic paperwork. In your case it doesn't mean the Medical Examiner didn't examine the body. It means he declined to do a full necropsy. He or some member of his staff would have looked the body over, or if the patient went to the ER first examined the hospital records and determined that a full autopsy was not really needed, as it was unlikely to find anything of any concern to anyone save perhaps some commentary on bad eating habits.

These are all wildly different than "Alec Baldwin shot the victim in the chest in front of 100 witnesses"

 

[1Tonka_Truck]

These are all wildly different than "Alec Baldwin shot the victim in the chest in front of 100 witnesses"

I wasn't trying to conflate two probable heart attacks with a shooting. Just compare Doc's and my experiences. We both saw some collapse, preformed CPR, and the person died. He quit well before the ambulance got there with it being the middle of nowhere. I was still going when the first EMT made inside. Sheriff had him sign the death certificate and list the cause of death. I forgot to mention that this was not the state he lived/practiced in. I don't know for sure, but he claimed nobody but the embalmer every looked at the body. EMTs declared Doc dead in the back of the ambulance and he went straight to the funeral home.

As a doctor that practiced for 5 decades he had stories for days, but he always thought that one was weird.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up, but I immediately thought of his story and death when I read your post.

 

[RodgerDodger]

I wasn't trying to conflate two probable heart attacks with a shooting. Just compare Doc's and my experiences. We both saw some collapse, preformed CPR, and the person died. He quit well before the ambulance got there with it being the middle of nowhere. I was still going when the first EMT made inside. Sheriff had him sign the death certificate and list the cause of death. I forgot to mention that this was not the state he lived/practiced in. I don't know for sure, but he claimed nobody but the embalmer every looked at the body. EMTs declared Doc dead in the back of the ambulance and he went straight to the funeral home.

As a doctor that practiced for 5 decades he had stories for days, but he always thought that one was weird.

Maybe I shouldn't have brought it up, but I immediately thought of his story and death when I read your post.

Sorry didn't mean to jump on you. It's an interesting story. Rural deaths can be like that at times. I first started working ambulances when I was going to a college in Upstate New York. Right on the Western NY/Pennsylvania Border. I had my EMT so got hired by the local private service. While we were in a small decaying rust belt city, if you stepped 10 feet off the main streets you were in deep rural twilight zone. (literally so. My apartment was a block down from Rod Serling's House.). Some Nights we would have to drive almost an hour down into Pennsylvania to meet another ambulance coming in from much farther away, to pick up the patient from them so they didn't have to go more than 2 hours away from their county. And bring the patient to our regional Hospital/Trauma Center. When you're that far away from real medical help the rules change. Dead is dead. And they don't ask too many questions providing there weren't any holes in the body or other signs of trauma.

With your friend While technically it may have been cheating having him sign the death certificate, It was probably legally ok. As he likely did qualify as an expert medical witness for purpose of certifying the death. Birth and Death are two things that tend to be given unquestioned reciprocity. In theory all Doctors know those ones. (although once again, you may want to be skeptical if all you've got is a Radiologist. They see fewer actual human patients than Anthony Fauci)

 

[RodgerDodger]

Oh and our friend Viva Frei has some advice for Alec Baldwin

 

[SITHRAK!]

In fact I am so confident Baldwin as an individual will not be charged based off the data to hand thus far that if I am wrong I will leave Kiwifarms for 6 months as penalty. And Null or anyone else is able to report me for being on here if it happens, and I will gladly take the 6 month suspension. I'm also NOT allowed to create another account.

Recorded for posterity in case he is charged, and you try to change your bet to 'convicted' instead.

 

[Mr. Bung]

Oh and our friend Viva Frei has some advice for Alec Baldwin

I just really want Twitter to shut down permanently with nothing to replace it and see the ensuring meltdown that occurs.

 

[make_it_so]

What even is this posture? Looks like an easy way to fall over.

I was under the impression that you always wanted to lean forward when firing a long gun, as a way to both maintain control and to prevent yourself from looking like a jackass like the person in this picture.

 

[A_throwaway_name62919]

"During a news conference Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there was “some complacency” in how weapons were handled on the set. Investigators found 500 rounds of ammunition — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds, even though the set’s firearms specialist, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, said there should never have been real ammo present."

Someone's head is definitely going to roll if there was indeed live rounds present, much less was mixed with the blanks and dummy rounds. The main question will be who takes the fall.

Though if live rounds were present, now I'm wondering if they were doing the same thing that happened on the set of The Crow where according to wikipedia: "Instead of purchasing commercial dummy cartridges, the film's prop crew, hampered by time constraints, created their own by pulling the bullets from live rounds, dumping the powder charge, then reinserting the bullets. However, they unknowingly left the live primer in place at the rear of the cartridge.".

If they were manufacturing their own dummy rounds like that, then instead of failing to properly deactivate a round they fucked up and mixed up a live round with a dummy round, that'd explain how a live round ended up in the gun. For that matter, how difficult is it to manufacture blanks from empty bullet casings? If the production is short on time/money or just stingy, and the equipment for that is fairly standard albeit specialized equipment, I can envision a scenario where instead of buying the necessary blanks and dummy rounds, they just bought live ammo and were having the staff make the blanks and dummy rounds from that. It'd also explain the rumors about taking the guns for plinking. The safest way to get the empty casings if all you have is live rounds is to fire off some of them so there are no "oops, didn't remove the primer" errors. Just random speculation on my part.

 

[Particle Bored]

In fact I am so confident Baldwin as an individual will not be charged based off the data to hand thus far that if I am wrong I will leave Kiwifarms for 6 months as penalty. And Null or anyone else is able to report me for being on here if it happens, and I will gladly take the 6 month suspension. I'm also NOT allowed to create another account.

That's my confidence level,

I think most of the people in this thread that think Baldwin dead to rights by any objective standard should get 5 to 10 in the clink are pretty resigned to the idea that whether or not he is actually arrested and charged is totally up in the air due to his fame and connections. I dont think anyone is going to make a counter bet not for lack of confidence in his guilt, but lack of confidence in the judicial system. Youre free to consider that a cop-out, but it is what it is, and lack of arrest or charges is not the vindication you may think it is. You've already demonstrated a lack of understanding on various aspects of the situation, so whether your statement is ultimately correct is more a matter of luck than insight.

Going off of the Brandon Lee case, it appears a case would hinge on the type or degree of negligence involved. The New Mexico statute for involuntary manslaughter specifies that the death be a result of a lawful action performed "without due caution and circumspection." Given the issues already raised by other staff on the set prior to the fatality, and being that Baldwin's position as both a producer and the most high profile star on a very small crew and set, it is reasonable to assume that he would be aware of such issues and chose to proceed without properly addressing them.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Someone's head is definitely going to roll if there was indeed live rounds present, much less was mixed with the blanks and dummy rounds. The main question will be who takes the fall.

Though if live rounds were present, now I'm wondering if they were doing the same thing that happened on the set of The Crow where according to wikipedia: "Instead of purchasing commercial dummy cartridges, the film's prop crew, hampered by time constraints, created their own by pulling the bullets from live rounds, dumping the powder charge, then reinserting the bullets. However, they unknowingly left the live primer in place at the rear of the cartridge.".

If they were manufacturing their own dummy rounds like that, then instead of failing to properly deactivate a round they fucked up and mixed up a live round with a dummy round, that'd explain how a live round ended up in the gun. For that matter, how difficult is it to manufacture blanks from empty bullet casings? If the production is short on time/money or just stingy, and the equipment for that is fairly standard albeit specialized equipment, I can envision a scenario where instead of buying the necessary blanks and dummy rounds, they just bought live ammo and were having the staff make the blanks and dummy rounds from that. It'd also explain the rumors about taking the guns for plinking. The safest way to get the empty casings if all you have is live rounds is to fire off some of them so there are no "oops, didn't remove the primer" errors. Just random speculation on my part.

This lot doesn't sound that creative or crafty. I think they just had all three types of am.o on set, dummies, blanks, and real bullets. And used incredibly poor judgement. No controls or processes to keep anything straight. And they fucked around a lot.

 

[SITHRAK!]

how difficult is it to manufacture blanks from empty bullet casings?

Depends on a lot of factors. It’s comparatively easy to make them for things like pump-action, single-action, double-action and lever-action weapons, as these do not rely on blowback or gas cycling.

Gas-operated semi-autos and autos are a lot trickier as you still need a delicate balance between gas displacement and reload mechanism that blanks fuck with a lot. You can part-obstruct the barrel to get the gas pressure to recock, and/or weaken the return springs. But part-obstructed barrels are a cunt to clean and weak return springs significantly increase jams, extraction failures and stovepipes. Not to mention that a lot of weapons may not cycle properly if the blanks are too short, as they may slide forward in the magazine and misfeed. This means that you then have to modify the magazines as well. Pain in the ass.

Add in the bizarre Hollywood fetish for magnesium powder, zirconium oxide powder or other adulterants to create gigantic muzzle flashes and blanks can be very tricky to get right.

Many militaries use blanks that are just a brass base with a primer and a heat-resistant, black plastic shell. Most commercial blanks are brass with a crimped tip (which means that to the uninitiated, a crimped-nose round like .22 rat-shot would be indistinguishable to a .22 blank). Handmade blanks literally just rely on pulling the bullet and sealing the casing with paper or wax, but are unreliable and aren’t cheaper than professionally made blanks anyway, when you consider time, effort, danger, and significantly increased underwriting/insurance costs.

I hope this has helped answer your question. But to sum it up: making your own blanks is a bad idea. At least if you’re using commercial crimped blanks, and someone gets injured because part of the crimping separates and hits someone (it happens) or jams the barrel causing a breech-blast that takes off someone’s finger (it also happens) you can sue the manufacturer. Make your own and you assume that liability yourself…

 

[Product Placement]

Alec Baldwin shooting: Rust movie set armourer says her role in death of cinematographer 'falsely portrayed'​

The person in charge of weapons on the movie set where Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer has spoken out, claiming her role in the incident has been "falsely portrayed".

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed when Baldwin discharged a firearm on the set of western movie Rust.


The film's director Joel Souza - who was standing behind her - was shot in the shoulder.


Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, had set up the gun and two others, according to an affidavit from the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office.

In a statement issued through her attorney, Jason Bowles, Ms Gutierrez-Reed said she was "devastated and completely beside herself over the events that transpired".


"Hannah would like to extend her deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Halyna," it said.

"She was an inspirational woman in film who Hannah looked up to. She also offers her thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery to Joel."

However, Mr Bowles said Ms Gutierrez-Reed wanted to "address some untruths" which have "falsely portrayed and slandered" her role in the incident.

The statement continued: "Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.

"Hannah and the prop master gained control over the guns and she never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that.

"They were locked up every night and at lunch and there's no way a single one of them was unaccounted for or being shot by crew members.

"Hannah still, to this day, has never had an accidental discharge."

After the shooting, Ms Gutierrez-Reed removed a shell casing from the gun and handed it over to the police when they arrived, court records said.

The local district attorney has said criminal charges in the case have not been ruled out.

Baldwin, known for his roles in 30 Rock and The Hunt for Red October, as well as his impressions of former US president Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, has described the killing as a "tragic accident".

Before taking up the role of armourer on a previous film, Ms Gutierrez-Reed reportedly said she wasn't sure if she was ready for the position.


Speaking in an interview after completing a role as head armourer for the Nicolas Cage film The Old Way, Ms Gutierrez-Reed said: "I almost didn't take the job because I wasn't sure if I was ready, but doing it, it went really smoothly."

She is also said to have admitted she found loading blanks into a gun "the scariest" thing and had sought help from her father, the renowned gunsmith Thell Reed, to overcome her fear.

Alec Baldwin shooting: Rust movie set armourer says her role in death of cinematographer 'falsely portrayed'

Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, had set up the gun and two others, according to court documents. However, she has said "safety on set" is her number on priority.

news.sky.com

 

[SITHRAK!]

"Hannah still, to this day, has never had an accidental discharge."

Firstly, that's an expectation, not a point of pride. You don't applaud a fry cook because he hasn't dropped his cellphone into the frier and reached in to grab it.
Secondly, she's worked as an armorer on two films for a grand total of what, five weeks?
Thirdly, are we talking about throughout her entire life (unprovable) or only on set (irrelevant)?

"Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.

"Hannah and the prop master gained control over the guns and she never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that."

Then how the fuck did a live round end up in the weapon, especially if as claimed, "They were locked up every night and at lunch and there's no way a single one of them was unaccounted for or being shot (sic) by crew members."

Baldwin, known for his roles in 30 Rock and The Hunt for Red October, as well as his impressions of former US president Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live, has described the killing as a "tragic accident".

'Accident' implies there's no-one to blame. 'Accident' implies it was unavoidable. 'Accident' is a bullshit cop-out.
If this fat smug cunt was serious about 'gun safety' and 'reducing gun deaths' he'd be admitting there were a series of fuckups caused by ignoring best practice, not the least of which was his own failure in drawing, cocking and pulling the trigger of a weapon while it was pointed at another human being.

 

[Pee Cola]

The statement continued: "Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.

wow

You dumb bitch. If safety was really your number one priority, you would've noticed that someone brought live ammo and had it removed from the set before allowing any of the firearms to be used as props. Oh, that's right... the guns were apparently left unattended on a table, which is where the AD got the gun that was used by Alec Baldwin. Who knows what could have happened when the guns were unattended.

"SaFeTy Is My NuMbEr OnE pRiOrItY!"

 

[Getting tard comed]

Interesting that she claims no knowledge of live rounds being present on set. Does that confirm Baldwin shot an actual bullet and that the crew were using the guns for target practice? Afaik it being a live bullet he shot hadn't been confirmed by the police.

Is it possible for the armorer not to know how and when the guns were being used and if so how screwed are the production members of the set to have a set mismanaged so poorly the person in charge of weapons didn't know what was happening with the weapons?

 

[Product Placement]

Interesting that she claims no knowledge of live rounds being present on set. Does that confirm Baldwin shot an actual bullet and that the crew were using the guns for target practice? Afaik it being a live bullet he shot hadn't been confirmed by the police.

Is it possible for the armorer not to know how and when the guns were being used and if so how screwed are the production members of the set to have a set mismanaged so poorly the person in charge of weapons didn't know what was happening with the weapons?

Live bullet was in gun fired by Alec Baldwin in fatal movie-set shooting: Sheriff

Law enforcement officials in New Mexico said Wednesday that they suspect a real bullet was loaded in the gun used in a fatal movie-set shooting by actor Alec Baldwin.

abcnews.go.com

Live bullet was confirmed days ago, also "He also said 500 rounds of ammunition were also seized that included a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live rounds."