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

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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.

 

[Billy Beer]

On the contrary. As reprehensible as his actions before, during, and after the event are, his current behavior is the only thing keeping every personal injury and wrongful death attorney in the state of New Mexico from shoving a massive court judgement right up his ass. Not that said judgement wouldn't be well-deserved, because if anyone deserved that its Baldwin, but the fact he's currently stretching the law and violating all good moral sense to keep his rectum intact is understandable. You never, ever admit responsibility when there's the possibility of pending legal action since your words and can will be used against you in civil court as an admission of culpability.

I mean, seriously. For all we shit on the people in Lolcow and Lolcow LLP threads when it comes to dumb shit like not listening to their counsel's advice, you'd think we understand that Baldwin is following it better than your average lolcow in one of those threads.

Is feeling guilty the same as admitting guilt?

 

[Leslie Nielsen]

If you want a good laugh, go back to the beginning of this thread and just think about how badly some of those Baldwin simping posts aged, holy shit.

 

[Michael Janke]

my question is if anyone is gonna buy this BS explanation?
my other question is if his lawyer told him to shut the fuck up until the trial is over and only speak when allowed to and say what he's been told to?
did he disregard his lawyers advice because of his rampant narcissism and think trying to do damage control would save him?

The person holding the gun has final responsibility for whatever happens with it.

legally isn't the armorer legally liable for wreckless endangerment and baldwin some kind of manslaughter.

 

[Mr. Zed da Robot Poon Fed]

The gun went off by itself?

Why weren't you screaming this from the mountaintops a month ago, Alec?

Never mind that he has to answer why the gun was pointed at the cinematographer and the director, assuming that he really didn’t pull the trigger (which I doubt).

 

[RodgerDodger]

Never mind that he has to answer why the gun was pointed at the cinematographer and the director, assuming that he really didn’t pull the trigger (which I doubt).

From my thinking here are his big problems. Don't get distracted by his "I didn't pull the trigger" BS.

1. We have a gross pattern of incredible safety violations and negligence on this set. Baldwin was party to this and the on sire producer.

2. Why did Baldwin have a firearm for a technical setup scene? Under industry rules this should have been precluded. That gun should not have been in his hand for that task.

3. Why was he pointing it, against every rule of gun safety, industry rules, and the California law under operates under, at people? At a manned camera? This is the primary negligent act. Even if he thought it was a Cold Gun. This is the big Do Not Do. This is the critical point where reckless endangerment or involuntary manslaughter attaches. "Because they told me to" might be a defense at trial. But it does not hand wave away the negligent acts.

3. Why did he pull back the hammer and cock the pistol? See above regarding negligent acts. This is a deliberate act that could not be accidental.

4. Why did he pull the trigger? And yeah, he almosr certainly did. Occam's Razor and all. Either an elaborate chain of mechanical failures? Or he simply did what he obviously did. The cinematographer, director and cameraman were watching through a monitor. There's got to be video somewhere.

5. What was Baldwins actual training on this film. Did he attend them? How many firearm safety lectures has he had over the years?

This is going to be a case of criminal negligence. Negligence is not a zero sum game. All negligent parties can be charged and someone elses negligence does not absolve theirs. But Baldwin has the biggest problem because he Pointed the Gun at People(negligent act) Pulled back and Cocked the Hammer while pointing at people (negligent act) and (almost certainly) pulled the trigger while aiming at a group of people. (Negligence doesn't begin to cover it)

 

[RodgerDodger]

Viva Frei with some interesting analysis on Baldwin’s interview.

 

[Ahriman]

Bo Duke explains how his gun could never fire itself.

 

[Iron Jaguar]

Imagine going on national television and saying that.

I swear, he is slowly morphing into a Bojack Horseman-esque, publicist's nightmare.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

Bo Duke explains how his gun could never fire itself.

Best explanation yet. That gets across how many things went wrong on Alec's part to make this happen in layman's terms. SAAs and clones need very specific things to happen to fire. If you don't add them all up in a specific order they do not go boom. Old school inherent safety features.

The most damning part is John Schneider showing just how easy it is to pop out the cylinder to clearly see if there is anything loaded in it. Fuck, they were setting up for the shot. There was no need for it to be in there at all. Alec could have just popped it out and put it in his pocket. I would have. That's just a reasonable safety measure.

 

[Ahriman]

To add to this, the most likely scenario is that all 6 chambers were loaded, instead of 5. It's called "the cowboy load", this guy explains:

 

[ColtWalker1847]

To add to this, the most likely scenario is that all 6 chambers were loaded, instead of 5. It's called "the cowboy load", this guy explains:

One thing that guy doesn't mention is that it was a carryover from the older Colt percussion revolvers. You never carried six with those. You kept the hammer down on an uncapped nipple. The Remington New Army (aka Model 185 had a machined rest for the hammer in between the nipples on the cylinder so you could carry six loaded and capped but I think it was the only one of those old revolvers with that feature.

But I don't think any of that applies here. Alec had a Pietta SAA-clone which are offered in both historical and transfer bar models. You wouldn't use a totally historically accurate SAA in a working environment. For obvious reasons. The historically accurate stuff is for blackpowder spergs like me.

Then you have what he said in the interview about pulling the hammer back while he was fucking around. It wasn't some drop-safety incidental hammer strike deal that a cowboy load would have fixed. He cocked the hammer and indexed the cylinder.

 

[Moist Nugget]

I like this explanation video the best regarding Baldwin's claim. It covers how even if you bring the hammer back partially and let it fall, it won't have enough force to trigger the primer. It's only 30 seconds long, uses real ammo, and gets right to the point.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

I like this explanation video the best regarding Baldwin's claim. It covers how even if you bring the hammer back partially and let it fall, it won't have enough force to trigger the primer. It's only 30 seconds long, uses real ammo, and gets right to the point.

That wouldn't work on that gun anyways. That's a Uberti CMS Pro. A derivative of their Cattleman II for Cowboy Mounted Shooting which has a retractable firing pin that functions like a transfer bar. No bang without the trigger pulled.

The assertion, which I don't believe, is that the Pietta SAA clone Alec had was of a fixed firing pin no transfer bar model. Fluttering the hammer could theoretically set off a sensitive primer in one of those. With that gal's Uberti the firing pin isn't touching the primer at all.

 

[SilenceIsViolence]

Viva Frei with some interesting analysis on Baldwin’s interview.

While I think Viva is projecting a bit here (losing his cool on paparazzi is probably the most normal and based thing Alex has done imo), I definitely think he's on the right track and agree that there is more to this story than just a sad accident.

Interesting comment on the Viva video though, any gunbros have thoughts on this? First I've ever heard of a slip gun personally, but I'm no expert.

Spoiler: Text

Viva, Hunley and Groubert have done episodes on this and Mark, who has been around tons of movie sets in his career said their is such a thing as a "slip gun". These are the old western style 6 shooters but have been modified so an actor can fan the hammer for rapid fire in a scene WITHOUT pulling the trigger. He said these are used on sets all the time in period westerns and he suggested that maybe one of those guns the Armorer brought with her from her Dad's collection was actually a slip gun and it was not noticed? He said her Dad did tons of westerns as the Armorer. He brought this up as a possibility. Personally, even if it was it would have been discovered IF he, or anyone, had checked the weapon and, the live round would also have been discovered as well so he and possibly a few others are responsible as far as I can see.

 

[Particle Bored]

While I think Viva is projecting a bit here (losing his cool on paparazzi is probably the most normal and based thing Alex has done imo), I definitely think he's on the right track and agree that there is more to this story than just a sad accident.

Interesting comment on the Viva video though, any gunbros have thoughts on this? First I've ever heard of a slip gun personally, but I'm no expert.

Spoiler: Text

Viva, Hunley and Groubert have done episodes on this and Mark, who has been around tons of movie sets in his career said their is such a thing as a "slip gun". These are the old western style 6 shooters but have been modified so an actor can fan the hammer for rapid fire in a scene WITHOUT pulling the trigger. He said these are used on sets all the time in period westerns and he suggested that maybe one of those guns the Armorer brought with her from her Dad's collection was actually a slip gun and it was not noticed? He said her Dad did tons of westerns as the Armorer. He brought this up as a possibility. Personally, even if it was it would have been discovered IF he, or anyone, had checked the weapon and, the live round would also have been discovered as well so he and possibly a few others are responsible as far as I can see.

View attachment 2777887

If it was modified so that the sear didnt capture the hammer, I think that would have been noticed pretty early.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Viva, Hunley and Groubert have done episodes on this and Mark, who has been around tons of movie sets in his career said their is such a thing as a "slip gun". These are the old western style 6 shooters but have been modified so an actor can fan the hammer for rapid fire in a scene WITHOUT pulling the trigger.

If it was modified so that the sear didnt capture the hammer, I think that would have been noticed pretty early.

Specialist modifications like that are made on an as-needed basis & aren't kept in circulation afterwards, and would also be marked in a specific & noticable way; i.e. a paint pen or tape on the grip.

Even if it was one of those pistols, it'd only add more ticks in the negligence boxes against Gutierrez, the AD, and Baldwin.

 

[JohnDoe]

Interesting comment on the Viva video though, any gunbros have thoughts on this? First I've ever heard of a slip gun personally, but I'm no expert.

If it was modified so that the sear didnt capture the hammer, I think that would have been noticed pretty early.

Even if it was one of those pistols, it'd only add more ticks in the negligence boxes against Gutierrez, the AD, and Baldwin.

Even if all this was true and it was a slip gun, and someone else loaded it with a live round, if every other person on set conspired to put a loaded slip gun in Baldwin's hand.....it would all be irrelevant.

It's all meaningless because Baldwin had the ultimate, final power to prevent Hutchins death. He could have checked the gun, or even asked why they weren't using a rubber stunt gun for a rehearsal, or simply followed the most basic safety rules and NOT pointed a firearm at another human being.

Baldwin has decades in Hollywood, thus he knows how guns are to be handled on set, he sits on the board of a gun-control organization, thus he knows of the hazards of mishandling, and therefore he was perfectly knowledgeable and capable.

The one person who had the ability to stop the chain of negligence or circumstance leading to the death of Hutchins was Baldwin.

 

[Stoneheart]

So he and his wife deleted their twitter and all i can think about in this context is an old movie clip....

 

[Orange Man Costume]

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

If it was supposed to be a live gun, yes, though we're talking about a final check by the actor, ruling out an extremely unlikely possibility of a live around in a gun full of dummies, after a hand-off from a professional that was supposed to check it, and an alternative to finding out while pointed at someone.

It's not 100% safe but its pretty reasonable, and something that can practically be done on the spot.

 

[ColtWalker1847]

While I think Viva is projecting a bit here (losing his cool on paparazzi is probably the most normal and based thing Alex has done imo), I definitely think he's on the right track and agree that there is more to this story than just a sad accident.

Interesting comment on the Viva video though, any gunbros have thoughts on this? First I've ever heard of a slip gun personally, but I'm no expert.

Spoiler: Text

Viva, Hunley and Groubert have done episodes on this and Mark, who has been around tons of movie sets in his career said their is such a thing as a "slip gun". These are the old western style 6 shooters but have been modified so an actor can fan the hammer for rapid fire in a scene WITHOUT pulling the trigger. He said these are used on sets all the time in period westerns and he suggested that maybe one of those guns the Armorer brought with her from her Dad's collection was actually a slip gun and it was not noticed? He said her Dad did tons of westerns as the Armorer. He brought this up as a possibility. Personally, even if it was it would have been discovered IF he, or anyone, had checked the weapon and, the live round would also have been discovered as well so he and possibly a few others are responsible as far as I can see.

View attachment 2777887

Should have been obvious to Alec what the gun was when it was handed to him and he did his status and function check. You do this every time a gun changes hands. You never ever trust anyone else and you always verify it for yourself. Especially for "cold guns".

A slip gun would be missing the final *click* of the sear and the hammer would go flying forward.

But he never did any check. He would have seen that the gun was loaded with live rounds and that it was malfunctioning if he did. Then he pointed it at people. Therefore criminal negligence.