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.

 

[WonderWino]

Clooney certainly has some.....odd takes on this one

George Clooney calls the fatal 'Rust' shooting 'infuriating'

George Clooney says the accident made him recall on-set shooting deaths of friends Brandon Lee and Jon-Erik Hexum decades ago.

ca.yahoo.com

'if I get told a gun holds six rounds I point it at the ground and shoot it six times, i've never heard the term cold gun'

ffs

 

[thyme's up]

I don't know much about guns, but it seems like shooting the ground is idiotic.

 

[ForTheHoard]

I don't know much about guns, but it seems like shooting the ground is idiotic.

It depends, but usually pointing it down is the right call. It depends what the ground you're on is made out of and what's around you. It's a stupid and unnecessary way to clear a gun, but I guess it's safer than doing nothing.

 

[Snekposter]

It depends, but usually pointing it down is the right call. It depends what the ground you're on is made out of and what's around you. It's a stupid and unnecessary way to clear a gun, but I guess it's safer than doing nothing.

There's better ways, but none quite so theatrical. Which is kinda the point in Hollywood. Pointing a revolver at the ground and going "Are you sure this is empty?" before dropping the firing pin on every chamber is a good way to make sure its safe and should something go off... well, it went in a mostly-safe direction, and everyone immediately knows someone fucked up badly without needing a dead body to demonstrate it.

 

[SITHRAK!]

Live round fired by Alec Baldwin on ‘Rust’ set could’ve been left from previous film

The deadly live round fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” could have been left from a previous film production, according to a search warrant approved by a judge Tuesday.

nypost.com

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Live round fired by Alec Baldwin on ‘Rust’ set could’ve been left from previous film​

By
Jesse O’Neill
November 30, 2021 8:31pm
Updated

The deadly live round fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” may have been left in the firearm from a previous film production, according to a search warrant approved by a judge Tuesday.
New Mexico investigators revealed the developments in the case as they sought permission to search PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC — an ammunition store in an Albuquerque strip mall that supplied the ill-fated Western with props, according to documents shared with The Post by Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The warrant also said the weapon could have been supplied by a man identified only as “Billy Ray.”

Criminal charges in the case have not been ruled out, after Baldwin killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injured director Joel Souza, 48 with a gun that was supposed to have contained blanks on the afternoon of Oct. 21.

On Oct. 27, investigators searched the prop truck after learning there was “additional ammunition collected of which some are suspect live ammunition,” the warrant said. The truck was unlocked by PDQ Arm & Prop’s Seth Kenney, sheriff’s wrote.

Kenney told cops the ammo included “dummy rounds and blanks” from manufacturer Starline Brass, which only sells bullet components, not live rounds, according to the warrant. However the deadly round was emblazoned with the Starline Brass logo, and Kenney later told cops that could have been because “he received ‘reloaded ammunition’ from a friend” — real ammo made from the harmless components, police said.

Kenney’s apparent penchant for live rounds was confirmed by Thell Reed, father of “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the document said.
Reed told police he worked on a different film with Kenney as an advisor over the summer.
“Seth requested he bring live ammunition in the event they ran out of what was supplied,” Reed told investigators, adding he brought a can of ammo with 200-300 live rounds.

“He said he still had the can with the .45 caliber colt ammunition in it, and after several attempts to get it back from Seth, Seth advised Thell to ‘write it off,'” investigators wrote. “Thell stated this ammunition might match the ammunition found on the set of Rust.”

Gutierrez-Reed told investigators she and prop master Sarah Zachry put five dummy rounds in the long barrel Colt .45 before lunch on the day of the disaster, but one round would not go in, so she cleaned “it” out and put another round in after lunch. She said “she didn’t really check it too much” before putting the final round in because the gun had been locked during lunch, according to the warrant.

After the fatal shooting, Zachry told investigators she went back to the prop cart to compare the suspected live round with other ammo being stored on set, the document said.
“Sarah said when she was comparing to other cartridges in the box, she found some of the cartridges would rattle, which signified them being “dummy rounds,’ however, others did not rattle,” investigators wrote. “Sarah said this lead (sic) her to believe some of the other rounds in that box were live ammo.”

The prop master told investigators that the live ammo could have come from multiple places however, including from a man mysteriously identified only by his two first names.
“Sarah advised the ammunition for Rust was provided from various sources, to include Seth Kenney, some Hannah brought from a previous production, and extra rounds from an individual identified as ‘Billy Ray,'” sheriff’s wrote.

A judge granted investigators permission to search the strip mall store for ammo with the “Starline Brass” logo, boxes and gun cleaning equipment, work contracts related to the production and surveillance footage related to the probe.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film and is the subject of multiple lawsuits related to the disaster, hired a former assistant US attorney to represent him, according to a report last week.

EDIT: Although this is interesting, please note that the focus seems to be on "why was the weapon loaded with a live round" rather than "why did Baldwin violate multiple rules of firearm safety"...

 

[East_Clintwood]

The deadly live round fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” may have been left in the firearm from a previous film production, according to a search warrant approved by a judge Tuesday.

This story keeps getting more retarded. Even if there was live ammo left in the gun from before, any one of the basic safety checks they were supposed to do would have caught it.

She said “she didn’t really check it too much” before putting the final round in because the gun had been locked during lunch, according to the warrant.

So the lazy cunt finally admits she didn't do the basics of her job. There's a reason the phrase "safety regulations are written in blood" exists, especially in regards to firearms, let alone firearms in films.

 

[BobbyBriggs69420]

We now have a guy named "Billy Ray" (probably racist) to blame and not one of our revered hollywood heroes, not the strong woman with the POC last name, it's looking like case closed.

Who woulda knew the deadly mistake came from so far back in the chain?

 

[Pee Cola]

This story keeps getting more retarded. Even if there was live ammo left in the gun from before, any one of the basic safety checks they were supposed to do would have caught it.

Yep. It only makes those involved in the shooting look even worse, especially those responsible for handling props (and firearms used as props).

Common sense would suggest that the first thing you do when renting anything is to check its operating condition before accepting the goods to be rented. Usually this is to avoid being blamed for preexisting damage upon the return of a rented item, but in the case of some items (e.g. cars, firearms) it's also an easy way to do a basic safety check.

What the Rust producers have gone and done is the equivalent to renting a car with bald tires, causing the driver to total it and one of his passengers to be killed in the wreck. If the driver had taken a couple of minutes to do a walkaround before accepting the keys, they would have spotted the bad tires and rejected the vehicle.

In a similar way, what the person hiring the firearms on behalf of Rust should have done was checked the firearms' working condition (as much as possible without actually firing any rounds ofc) prior to accepting delivery. Ammo left over from the previous renter would have stuck out even more clearly than the bald tires mentioned in my crappy rental car example, and it's also easier to remove ammo from a chamber than it is to have a couple of tires changed in a hurry.

 

[Something Awful]

I hope Baldwin goes to the electric chair for this. Why? Well, why not? Fuck him.

 

[kcbbq]

In the upcoming interview he says he didn't (and never would) pull the trigger.

Fucking SkyNET has taken over 19th century technology now.

 

[SITHRAK!]

‘I didn’t pull the trigger’: Weepy Alec Baldwin makes shocking claim on ‘Rust’ tragedy

Alec Baldwin is insisting he “didn’t pull the trigger” on the gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded his director on the New Mexico set of his “Rust” film.

nypost.com

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​

‘I didn’t pull the trigger’: Weepy Alec Baldwin gives first interview since ‘Rust’ tragedy​

By
Emily Crane
December 1, 2021 3:59pm
Updated

Crying Alec Baldwin says he didn't pull trigger in first interview since Rust shooting
(Note that it's already been established that the revolver needed to be cocked in order to fire, due to it being a single-action. There is evidence that the weapon had a faulty trigger sear but it's unclear if this would allow the transfer bar to engage, and the weapon to discharge, without the trigger being pulled- S).

Alec Baldwin is insisting he “didn’t pull the trigger” on the gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on the New Mexico set of his film “Rust.”
In his first interview since the deadly Oct. 21 shooting, a tearful Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos he has “no idea” how the live bullet ended up in the firearm.
“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said in a preview clip of the interview released on Wednesday.
“I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” he said.
(And yet the weapon was cocked and discharged when pointed at two other people. Dindu nuffin is not a defense-S).

Authorities have previously said Baldwin was holding the prop gun while rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe when it accidentally discharged.
(Dear 'authorities', please research the difference between 'accidental' and 'negligent' discharges-S).
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured after they were struck by the live round.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said in the ABC interview, which is set to air in full on Thursday.


Alec Baldwin is still in disbelief that “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is dead.
ABC News

At one point during the hour-long interview, Baldwin could be seen sobbing and placing his head in his hands.
Asked if the film set shooting was the worst thing that has ever happened to him, the Hollywood star said, “Yes.”
(Empathic people might also mention the terrible impact on the dead woman, her family, and the wounded director. But Baldwin is a raging egomaniac and likely has many psychopathic traits and so is only able to relate to his own 'pain'- S).


Alec Baldwin was emotionally distraught throughout his interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
ABC News
(Strikes me that he's showing more emotion here than he did while doing roadside interviews, clothes shopping, dining out and having a great time in the weeks since the shooting- S).

Baldwin also paid tribute to the slain cinematographer, saying it “doesn’t seem real” that Hutchins is dead.
“I think back and I think of what could I have done?” Baldwin said. “She was someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her] and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired…,” he said.


Alec Baldwin cried a lot during an emotional interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
ABC News

“I mean, even now I find it hard to believe that [she’s gone]. It doesn’t seem real to me.”
His interview comes after a new search warrant approved by a judge on Tuesday revealed the live round may have been left in the gun from a previous film production.


Alec Baldwin asserts that “someone put a live bullet in a gun” he used on the “Rust” movie set.
ABC News

Investigators revealed the developments in the case as they sought permission to search PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC — an ammunition store in an Albuquerque strip mall that supplied the ill-fated Western with props.
No charges have been brought in the film set shooting, but authorities haven’t yet ruled them out.



A tearful Alec Baldwin claims he “would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them.”
ABC News

Baldwin’s full interview will air at 8 p.m. ET Thursday on ABC.
--------------------------------------------------------------
This is 'elites covering for elites 101'- focus not on what happened, or how it happened, or the victims' experiences.
Don't interview people that walked off the set after misfires/negligent discharges.
Don't investigate union-busters hiring incompetent makeup girls as armorers.
Focus on how baaaaad the poor unfortunate multimillionaire star feels and how he's distraught this has happened to him.

Woman shot dead by Alec Baldwin- Alec Baldwin most affected. Disgusting.

 

[Jet Fuel Johnny]

Well, Alec, according to your own side, tears mean you're guilty.

Source: Kyle Rittenhouse Case.

 

[The Lizard Queen]

“I think back and I think of what could I have done?” Baldwin said.

I can think of a few things you could have done...

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

(Strikes me that he's showing more emotion here than he did while doing roadside interviews, clothes shopping, dining out and having a great time in the weeks since the shooting- S).

He's been rehearsing harder for this interview than any movie role, especially after bombing so hard with his roadside improv performance. I wonder who his coach is, because it's made a difference.

We now have a guy named "Billy Ray" (probably racist) to blame and not one of our revered hollywood heroes, not the strong woman with the POC last name, it's looking like case closed.

Who woulda knew the deadly mistake came from so far back in the chain?

I find it convenient & surprising that Senõr Reed would remember those details now; instead of immediately when the memory was fresh, the heat was on his daughter, and that he'd share the details with the public.

I'd think that throwing around such accusations would expose them to future lawsuits & further questions. Unless Billy Ray is related to Earl (who's also cousin to another white man who keeps getting away with it).

 

[WonderWino]

In the upcoming interview he says he didn't (and never would) pull the trigger.

Fucking SkyNET has taken over 19th century technology now.

Don't say that too loud or hollywood might start getting ideas and the next terminator movie will end up involving a terminator sent back to the 19th century to assassinate lincoln in 1860 and save the confederacy so skynet can enslave black people to build itself a century earlier or some such nonsense and we'll end up with some convoluted insanity to destroy the terminator by luring it onto a steam engine and blowing a bridge up with dynamite by a bunch of black union soldiers

The deadly live round fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust” may have been left in the firearm from a previous film production,

That doesn't make the slightest bit of sense and if anything would make the idiot in charge of firearms on set even more guilty looking cause she clearly didn't do her job and ensure they were checked for just that kind of fuckup before they got anywhere near the set

 

[SITHRAK!]

That doesn't make the slightest bit of sense and if anything would make the idiot in charge of firearms on set even more guilty looking cause she clearly didn't do her job and ensure they were checked for just that kind of fuckup before they got anywhere near the set

I think the angle that’s being pursued is ‘anything to exonerate Baldwin’. Reading between the lines in the last couple of articles we see that dummy round casings on-set were not de-primered, drilled or slotted, meaning there was no way to instantly spot a live round mixed in with dummies.

This whole idea of shaking a round to check whether it was live or not is imbecilic to the point of parody.

My theory: Hannah Gutierrez Reed (HGR) has some rudimentary firearm knowledge and wanted to step up from makeup girl to the much more ’empowering’ (hence the posing) and better-paid armorer role.

However she lacked a lot of practical knowledge or experience and so used her Dad’s name to open the door, falsely claiming to have been his protegé, when her trailer-trash lifestyle makes it clear he never really invested much in her upbringing at all.

Wanting to jump in as a head armorer rather than learning the trade from the ground up, even name-dropping her Dad only opened a door to desperate low-budget filmmakers and Union busters.

She jumped on Rust after a proven poor performance on her first outing, but only got the shot because she was cheap, available, non-union and compliant. EDIT: the need for a new armorer arose after the prior armorer walked off the job with the rest of the union crew when the corner-cutting started causing accidents to happen.

She took over a truck full of hire weapons and ammo, and the previous armorer had either not bothered to keep everything tidy and documented, or more likely the truck had been opened and fucked around with by cast and crew after their departure.

Live ammo was held in the truck, and when this was discovered, cast and crew went plinking for fun in the downtime. Unfired ammo was returned to the truck and mixed with dummy rounds, which were not compliant as they were not clearly visually marked as inert.

HGR was unaware of this and didn’t bother to visually confirm that all dummy rounds to be loaded were clearly inert before loading the pistol in question. The AD grabbed the weapon assuming the armorer had cleared it. Two very stupid assumptions, both of which are the parents of one huge fuckup.

The pistol was then passed to Baldwin who used it to fuck around on set, play-acting draws and cocking, even though the scene being set up apparently required no such activity.

While doing this, Baldwin cocked and aimed the pistol at Hutchens. Then, either the faulty sear caused the hammer to ride forwards and discharge the weapon (unlikely as transfer bars should only engage when the trigger is pulled); or, more likely, he pulled the trigger expecting a click and got a bang instead.

100% speculation of course, but seems to fit both known facts and claims. The interesting part will be seeing how the State of New Mexico reacts; you can be sure everyone from the Governor down to the film commissioner has been taking a lot of calls about what would happen to film investment in NM if Baldwin were to be charged.

 

[Dan Abrams]

They invented a special gun for the movie that fires without the trigger being pulled.

Sounds like maybe someone was drunk on set and doesn't remember things clearly.

 

[Cuckoman]

I hate it when firearms just spontaneously auto-discharge by them selves.

Is this an attempt to push the blame to the manufacturer of the firearm? And that Baldwin is completely innocent and they should charge the manufacturer instead? Is that the angle that his defence lawyer will push?

 

[Weeb Slinger]

It depends, but usually pointing it down is the right call. It depends what the ground you're on is made out of and what's around you. It's a stupid and unnecessary way to clear a gun, but I guess it's safer than doing nothing.

The first time I ever fired a gun was in the Yemen desert outside Tarim, to ward off a pack of dogs. I was standing in a patch of scree halfway up a rocky slope. I pointed the weapon towards the ground in what I hoped would be a warning shot. I won't be doing that again.

 

[soy_king]

The first time I ever fired a gun was in the Yemen desert outside Tarim, to ward off a pack of dogs. I was standing in a patch of scree halfway up a rocky slope. I pointed the weapon towards the ground in what I hoped would be a warning shot. I won't be doing that again.

why were you in Yemen?