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.

 

[Internet War Criminal]

Just now?

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Why? The Court can't really limit speech like that. And nobody has been charged with anything. Plus why would the Sheriff want to shut his ass up? Anything Baldwin says in public can only help the DA.. And really help when the civil liability lawsuits start flying.

Because it could go to trial, and a stunt like that is sorta fucking with the jury pool? I'm not familiar with what happens for people like Baldwin, because they don't get the same rules as we do. All I know is that if a prosecutor, judge, lawyer, (or my wife) tells me to shut my mouth because there's an open investigation, then not doing so is an incredibly bad idea.

 

[RodgerDodger]

Because it could go to trial, and a stunt like that is sorta fucking with the jury pool? I'm not familiar with what happens for people like Baldwin, because they don't get the same rules as we do. All I know is that if a prosecutor, judge, lawyer, (or my wife) tells me to shut my mouth because there's an open investigation, then not doing so is an incredibly bad idea.

The Court can't pre-emptively ban speech. Especiay not regarding matters not before it. The Sheriff can't ban speech at all. And would have no.reason to order Baldwin to shut up.

 

[Wargarbl]

View attachment 2676695
Yeah Hilaria is a pain in the arse.

The one thing everyone in thread should be able to agree on: Baldwin's dipshit fake-hispanic instathot baby factory is an unbearable attention-whoring bitch.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

The Court can't pre-emptively ban speech. Especiay not regarding matters not before it. The Sheriff can't ban speech at all. And would have no.reason to order Baldwin to shut up.

It's not banning speech, just details pertinent to a supposedly-ongoing investigation/case, which a judge could feasibly do. I mean Baldwin didn't that time, he stuck to speaking in fairly general terms.

What I'm saying is if a judge (or their proxy) tells someone to not talk about a specific thing & they do anyways, would that not at least be contempt of court?

I'm probably putting too much faith in the prosecutor; but given his fame, I'd think they'd try keeping him from influencing or intimidating witnesses (or potential juries), in any of the cases resulting from his ultimate fuck up.

 

[Product Placement]

Alec Baldwin shooting: Halyna Hutchins cried out ‘that was no good’ seconds after fatal shot​

Witnesses have revealed Halyna Hutchins’ last words in the moments after she was shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his movie Rust.

Ms Hutchins, director of photography for the Western film, died on 21 October after Mr Baldwin discharged a firearm while practising a gun-drawing technique on the set in New Mexico.


Seconds after she was struck, Ms Hutchins cried out to a boom operator: “That was no good. That was no good at all,” according to a Los Angeles Times report based on interviews with 14 crew members.

The crew members told how Mr Baldwin’s fatal shot came as he was rehearsing a shootout scene inside a church so the camera crew could set up their angles.


“So, I guess I’m gonna take this out, pull it, and go, ‘Bang!’” Mr Baldwin said as he clutched a Colt .45 revolver, which he believed had been loaded with dummy rounds instead of gunpowder and a projectile.

His words were followed by a bang from the gun as a lead bullet ripped through Ms Hutchins before landing in the shoulder of the film’s director, Joel Souza.


Blood began pouring from Ms Hutchins’ chest as she fell backward into the head electrician and Mr Souza crumpled to the ground clutching his shoulder.

The 42-year-old cinematographer uttered her last words as crew members crowded around her and a boom operator locked eyes, telling her: “Oh, that was no good.”

Mr Baldwin looked on in horror and repeatedly yelled: “What the f*** just happened,” according to the witnesses who spoke to the Times.

Hours later, Ms Hutchins was pronounced dead at hospital. Mr Souza was treated and released.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into how live ammunition ended up in the prop gun and has thus far refused to rule out the possibility of criminal charges for anyone involved, including Mr Baldwin himself.


The actor, who was also a producer on the film, reflected on the shooting when confronted by paparazzi over the weekend, calling it a “one-in-a-trillion” episode.

“There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this,” he said. “We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.”


Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza painted a different portrait of the set at a news conference last week, saying: “I think there was some complacency on the set, and I think there are some safety issues that need to be addressed by the industry and possible by the state of New Mexico.”

Crew members who spoke to the Times echoed that characterisation, many of them alleging that their safety concerns prior to the shooting were ignored by upper management.

“It always felt like the budget was more important than crew members,” Lane Luper, the A-camera first assistant, told the newspaper. “Every thing was about the schedule and the budget.”

On the morning of the shooting, six members of the camera crew were gearing up for a walk-out to protest working conditions and safety measures, the Times reported.


Among crew members’ concerns, the Times said, was the experience level of the film’s sole armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for overseeing all firearms on the set, including the one Mr Baldwin used to shoot Ms Hutchins.

The 21 October shooting marked the fourth time that a gun had been accidentally discharged on set, Ms Luper said.

Attorneys for Ms Gutierrez-Reed pinned blame for the incidents on her superiors, saying she “fought for training, days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire, but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.”

“The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings,” the attorneys said in a statement last week.

Halyna Hutchins’ last words after Alec Baldwin shooting revealed

Hutchins, director of photography for the Western film Rust, died on 21 October after Baldwin discharged a firearm while practising a gun-drawing technique on set

www.independent.co.uk

 

[Gar For Archer]

Alec Baldwin shooting: Halyna Hutchins cried out ‘that was no good’ seconds after fatal shot​

Witnesses have revealed Halyna Hutchins’ last words in the moments after she was shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his movie Rust.

Ms Hutchins, director of photography for the Western film, died on 21 October after Mr Baldwin discharged a firearm while practising a gun-drawing technique on the set in New Mexico.


Seconds after she was struck, Ms Hutchins cried out to a boom operator: “That was no good. That was no good at all,” according to a Los Angeles Times report based on interviews with 14 crew members.

The crew members told how Mr Baldwin’s fatal shot came as he was rehearsing a shootout scene inside a church so the camera crew could set up their angles.


“So, I guess I’m gonna take this out, pull it, and go, ‘Bang!’” Mr Baldwin said as he clutched a Colt .45 revolver, which he believed had been loaded with dummy rounds instead of gunpowder and a projectile.

His words were followed by a bang from the gun as a lead bullet ripped through Ms Hutchins before landing in the shoulder of the film’s director, Joel Souza.


Blood began pouring from Ms Hutchins’ chest as she fell backward into the head electrician and Mr Souza crumpled to the ground clutching his shoulder.

The 42-year-old cinematographer uttered her last words as crew members crowded around her and a boom operator locked eyes, telling her: “Oh, that was no good.”

Mr Baldwin looked on in horror and repeatedly yelled: “What the f*** just happened,” according to the witnesses who spoke to the Times.

Hours later, Ms Hutchins was pronounced dead at hospital. Mr Souza was treated and released.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is conducting an investigation into how live ammunition ended up in the prop gun and has thus far refused to rule out the possibility of criminal charges for anyone involved, including Mr Baldwin himself.


The actor, who was also a producer on the film, reflected on the shooting when confronted by paparazzi over the weekend, calling it a “one-in-a-trillion” episode.

“There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this,” he said. “We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.”


Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza painted a different portrait of the set at a news conference last week, saying: “I think there was some complacency on the set, and I think there are some safety issues that need to be addressed by the industry and possible by the state of New Mexico.”

Crew members who spoke to the Times echoed that characterisation, many of them alleging that their safety concerns prior to the shooting were ignored by upper management.

“It always felt like the budget was more important than crew members,” Lane Luper, the A-camera first assistant, told the newspaper. “Every thing was about the schedule and the budget.”

On the morning of the shooting, six members of the camera crew were gearing up for a walk-out to protest working conditions and safety measures, the Times reported.


Among crew members’ concerns, the Times said, was the experience level of the film’s sole armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for overseeing all firearms on the set, including the one Mr Baldwin used to shoot Ms Hutchins.

The 21 October shooting marked the fourth time that a gun had been accidentally discharged on set, Ms Luper said.

Attorneys for Ms Gutierrez-Reed pinned blame for the incidents on her superiors, saying she “fought for training, days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire, but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.”

“The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings,” the attorneys said in a statement last week.

Halyna Hutchins’ last words after Alec Baldwin shooting revealed

Hutchins, director of photography for the Western film Rust, died on 21 October after Baldwin discharged a firearm while practising a gun-drawing technique on set

www.independent.co.uk

“That fucking sucked, I want another take god damn it!”

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

So it was a rehearsal to get the right shot?

So Baldwin really didn't need to be pulling the fucking trigger, holy shit what a dumbass

 

[Product Placement]

So it was a rehearsal to get the right shot?

So Baldwin really didn't need to be pulling the fucking trigger, holy shit what a dumbass

We don't have a full idea if he meant to pull the trigger or not yet, also speculation if it was the way he moved the gun that made it go off accidentally. We won't have a full idea until the report comes out but I expect the shoot was somehow a lot worse than the stories coming out are saying.

 

[Make Anime Illegal]

So it was a rehearsal to get the right shot?

So Baldwin really didn't need to be pulling the fucking trigger, holy shit what a dumbass

Nor was there any excuse not to clear the gun.

 

[RodgerDodger]

So it was a rehearsal to get the right shot?

So Baldwin really didn't need to be pulling the fucking trigger, holy shit what a dumbass

Note the "pulled back" he cocked the hammer.

And for those arguing, like Menotaur, yhat Baldwin's a good boy that didndoo nuttin. Think this through. There is no "I was making a movie" exemption in the gun crime laws. "I didn't know it was loaded" is generally not a path out of criminal charges. Although it might drop them to criminal negligence. California's Laws might support Baldwin's position. But Californian Law also has specific laws and rules governing firearms in movie/tv productions. And very strict (and expensive) safety requirements that must be followed by all involved. Rust was filming in New Mexico to avoid the costs of those California requirements.

New Mexico doesn't have any carve outs or regulatory governance of or for film production. Which is bad for Baldwin. Baldwin picked up the weapon, pointed it at peoole and pulled the trigger. "I was only acting" does not eliminate the need for safe behavior. Nor the responsibility for ignoring it.

 

[TowinKarz]

Why? The Court can't really limit speech like that. And nobody has been charged with anything. Plus why would the Sheriff want to shut his ass up? Anything Baldwin says in public can only help the DA.. And really help when the civil liability lawsuits start flying.

All the sane Internet lawyers have been trying for a week to get him to shut up, but his ego and camera addiction just won't let him.

 

[Make Anime Illegal]

The fact that somebody else is getting paid to make sure you're not doing something unsafe doesn't absolve you, legally or morally, of the responsibility not to do something unsafe. "Checking that the gun was safe was the armorer's job" can only true as far as the company is concerned, and it's not even true in that case.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

Jamie Kennedy reacting to an article on the incident. At 13:12, Jamie claims that it is a law that everyone on a movie set has a right to inspect a weapon, although I would assume he'd be claiming this for California.

In this he talks about his experience with firearms on sets.

 

[SITHRAK!]

We don't have a full idea if he meant to pull the trigger or not yet, also speculation if it was the way he moved the gun that made it go off accidentally.

This has already been extensively covered in the thread. The pistol used was apparently a single-action with a transfer bar safety, meaning that in order to fire, the hammer must be pulled to full-cock and the trigger deliberately pulled.

This spin about the pistol ‘going off accidentally’ is bullshit, intended to minimize Baldwin’s culpability, and getting a pass from a media that’s hysterical about firearms yet knows little about them.

Hutchens wasn’t shot ‘accidentally’. She was shot ‘negligently’, because a series of completely avoidable fuckups and gun safety rule breaches occurred on a film at the behest of a producer and director who thought rules were okay to ignore.

California's Laws might support Baldwin's position.

CA’s laws on firearms in general are far more fucking retardedly harsh than anywhere else in the country. It’s why they have such a low incidence of gun crime…
If this had happened in CA to anyone that wasn’t a high profile actor, they’d be doing time for sure. As it’s a Baldwin who’s campaigned for Dems his whole life I doubt anything would come of it, because that’s just the way it works in Dem states.

 

[RodgerDodger]

This has already been extensively covered in the thread. The pistol used was apparently a single-action with a transfer bar safety, meaning that in order to fire, the hammer must be pulled to full-cock and the trigger deliberately pulled.

This spin about the pistol ‘going off accidentally’ is bullshit, intended to minimize Baldwin’s culpability, and getting a pass from a media that’s hysterical about firearns yet knows little about them.

Hutchens wasn’t shot ‘accidentally’. She was shot ‘negligently’, because a series of completely avoidable fuckups and gun safety rule breaches occurred on a film at the behest of a producer and director who thought rules were okay to ignore.


CA’s laws on firearms in general are far more fucking retardedly harsh than anywhere else in the country. It’s why they have such a low incidence of gun crime…
If this had happened in CA to anyone that wasn’t a high profile actor, they’d be doing time for sure. As it’s a Baldwin who’s campaigned for Dems his whole life I doubt anything would come of it, because that’s just the way it works in Dem states.

My point was that outside of California’s firearm laws, they, unlike most or any other states, have actual laws codifying Gun use and Gun Safety requirements in theatrical productions. California has a process defined in the statutes for how the weapons are handled on set, and how they arrive at the actor, and how they may be used. Under the protections of those laws Baldwin might have a case that the system failed around him. But following those California regulations would have insured this incident didn’t happen. Baldwin’s problem is this happened in New Mexico. Which has no special rules or laws governing movie production in this way. A firearm death on set is a gun crime, just like any other gun related death.

 

[SITHRAK!]

California has a process defined in the statutes for how the weapons are handled on set, and how they arrive at the actor, and how they may be used.

Yes, and ever since Brandon Lee’s death those rules include never pointing a firearm at anyone on set for any reason.

Had this happened on set in CA Baldwin would rightfully be in more trouble than he is, not less. That’s be because he would have breached movie-specific firearm safety laws as well as general ones

One of his biggest liabilities is as producer. Ignoring crew safety concerns until they walk off the set in protest, then replacing them with a scab crew is not a good look. A legal argument might be made that bringing on a ‘union buster’ to hire scabs, one of whom was clearly incompetent in regards to the role of armorer, confers liability.

 

[TowinKarz]

Attorneys for Ms Gutierrez-Reed pinned blame for the incidents on her superiors, saying she “fought for training, days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire, but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.”

A pity she didn't just, you know, walk away at that point.........

"I'm inexperienced, I'm under too much pressure, I'm not given enough support, there's 500 rounds of live ammo around here that I don't know where it came from...


... but imma gonna keep fiddling with guns for that credit anyway, just don't blame me if someone gets shot, cuz I warned you"

I'm sympathetic to workers put in bad places by idiotic management, forced to perform questionable/unsafe actions, but at some point, if you continue to knowingly carry them out, then you cease to be a victim and now you're "Just following orders"

 

[HumanHive]

I think the worst part about all this, however predictable, is that Alex blames the gun itself and is now trying to act like he's some victim of the firearms industry, and that the solution is to reduce the amount of real guns on set.
Uhhhhh, no idiot, you treat guns with respect and not like toys. That's the fucking solution.

 

[SITHRAK!]

A pity she didn't just, you know, walk away at that point.........

"I'm inexperienced, I'm under too much pressure, I'm not given enough support, there's 500 rounds of live ammo around here that I don't know where it came from...


... but imma gonna keep fiddling with guns for that credit anyway, just don't blame me if someone gets shot, cuz I warned you"

I'm sympathetic to workers put in bad places by idiotic management, forced to perform questionable/unsafe actions, but at some point, if you continue to knowingly carry them out, then you cease to be a victim and now you're "Just following orders"

Yeah the Nuremberg defense isn’t going to cut it here.

I’d be interested to see precedence set by Baldwin not being charged. It’d mean that “I was given the firearm and told it was safe so I’m not responsible for the killing” may become a legal defense in NM.

And just in my opinion, having pictures of the armorer posing like the Dollar Tree Insta-whore she is instead of looking after gun safety on the set is not a good look. If you have time to pose, you have time to secure and clean weapons, train cast and crew, check your ammo…