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.

 

[Xarpho's Return]

I'm being optimistic, but I hope these charges do stick and it changes the way Hollywood handles gun safety. It doesn't matter if someone else cleared the gun for you, you should be personally inspecting it yourself before pointing it at someone and firing.

Probably not. The whole thing was done in New Mexico to avoid the film crew unions and now since they got their "lol we told you so" moment they'll be even stronger and nothing will really change.

 

[East_Clintwood]

On the one hand I'm pleasantly surprised they actually charged, on the other I'm still annoyed that it's taken so fucking long, despite the obvious case under NM law. I guarantee anyone who isn't a rich actor would have spent the last year sitting in a jail cell, not going on TV to tell lies and whine in interviews or shitting out yet another useless crotch goblin.

and it changes the way Hollywood handles gun safety.

I disagree. Hollywood actually handles gun safety pretty well. Go look at this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_and_television_accidents and see how few gun related incidents compared to others. The problem isn't gun safety protocols, it's cheap ass productions trying to cut corners, and they'll do that regardless of what the protocols are.

 

[JosephStalin]

Hope this arrogant asshole is found guilty and goes to prison. Fuck him, fully.

 

[evilsponge]

I don't know if the charges will stick, but I hope Alec eats a lot of shit for trying to claim he wasn't pulling the trigger

 

[Iron Jaguar]

I'm very confident that the charges are a deliberate downgrade, and they'll get community service at most.

 

[Beige]

Normally I'd say the fault lies entirely with the armorer, as it is their responsibility to ensure the weapon is safe; the whole "always treat a weapon as if it is loaded" doesn't really apply if you're talking about what is supposed to be a prop on a movie set. That being said, Baldwin's a producer right? Pretty sure they tried to get around unions and hired someone who wasn't competent for the armorer job, in which case, I would say Baldwin is liable for the weapon being unsafe.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Anyone else remember this faggot (aka @Menotaur)?

Well good luck with arguing that as at the DA cause it ain't gonna fly in a court. The DA isn't even going to go down that road. This is so far from criminal negligence on the actors behalf that it won't even make the rounds as a possibility.

How about we talk about the 2 fuckheads - Hall and Hannah that were actually paid to say the guns as safe and yelled "cold gun". Where criminal negligence is not only apparent, but blatant.

Do you think perhaps they are worthy of a mention?

Or do you just wanna bash Baldwin cause you hate him? He isn't going to be charged.

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

 

[Larry Potterfield]

Anyone else remember this faggot (aka @Menotaur)?

Pepperidge Farm remembers.

I was gonna troll him, but it looks like his ass has been missing for a while. This dude would randomly rant about the mypillow guy when you argued with him about anything.

 

[he who has thus come/gone]

NGL, Baldwin's comedy is shite but I don't think he deserves these charges. The entire studio put their faith in specialists to handle the prop guns. Both the victims signed off on both those elements. The armorer ought to go away for a long fucking time though.

Nah dude, hard disagree. Have you watched Baldwin's interrogation footage from right after the shooting? If he weren't a rich celebrity, he would have been arrested right then and there. He speaks far more than he should have (clearly he thought he could control the situation with his charisma) about his knowledge of prop guns, how he knows they can be dangerous, his extensive use of prop guns over his career, how safety procedures typically work for prop guns, and how he was practicing drawing the entire time before it occurred. He retardedly lays out that he knew there was significant risk of death or bodily harm that can occur when using prop guns (and that he disregarded this risk, but I think the statute is predicated on negligence, not recklessness).

You'd be right if Baldwin went into the police station saying "I'm just a retarded actor. They hand me things and I repeat what smarter people write down for me. I had no idea about the mechanics of the prop guns, I just trusted in the people who are more knowledgeable about them." But he did the opposite.

Was there sabotage or something? Who knows--that's why we have trials where sides can present evidence. But by Baldwin's own words, there was enough to charge him with negligently (or recklessly, maybe) causing the death of another person.

 

[ShaBooBoo Markle]

I truly believe he shot her dead on purpose because he is a remorseless murderer and should be sentenced to die in the electric chair on Christmas day.

#AlecWayneGacy
#AlecBundy
#AlecDahmer
#AlecRamirez
#AlecWinfrey

 

[soy_king]

@kcbbq doesnt matter whats the right charge: if you aim to convict, you're going to go for as much as you can without actually expecting to convict for the more serious offenses. It's essentially a gambit with either the defense in order to get them to negotiate or with the jury to see what will stick. The fact that they're not doing this says everything you need to know about how seriously they're taking this.

 

[Snekposter]

Normally I'd say the fault lies entirely with the armorer, as it is their responsibility to ensure the weapon is safe; the whole "always treat a weapon as if it is loaded" doesn't really apply if you're talking about what is supposed to be a prop on a movie set. That being said, Baldwin's a producer right? Pretty sure they tried to get around unions and hired someone who wasn't competent for the armorer job, in which case, I would say Baldwin is liable for the weapon being unsafe.

Top billing on the producer credits, so the actual producer, and I believe he was the primary financier of the project in addition to having the starring role. The entire thing was an Alec Baldwin vanity project designed to get his name back out there.

 

[The Man With No Name]

I truly believe he shot her dead on purpose because he is a remorseless murderer and should be sentenced to die in the electric chair on Christmas day.

#AlecWayneGacy
#AlecBundy
#AlecDahmer
#AlecRamirez
#AlecWinfrey

He's a misogynistic Russian bot for killing a brave Ukrainian woman. If he could have pulled the trigger, he would, but the mere fact he was pointing the death machine (gun) toward someone made it go off instantly!

 

[Absolutego]

Involuntary manslaughter is probably the right criminal charge. I find Baldwin personally repellent but that was more on him hiring incompetent staff than actively wanting to kill his director/DOP. Go after him civilly for his negligence as an executive producer, not for what he did as an actor.
I distinctly remember the dude who killed Brandon Lee never forgiving himself for what, at the end of the day, was a prop master/armorer fuckup. Even though Baldwin's a jackass, I wouldn't want to set precedent that way going forward.

 

[inception_state]

I agree, but he is never going to see the inside of a jail even for a month. So no mutts law. It will be a fine, plus court costs and community service he can buy his way out of doing. Peanuts to him, but what will really hurt is the words convicted felon next to his name.

I'm not a lawyer, but New Mexico appears to have a mandatory one year sentencing enhancement for felonies committed with a firearm:

A. When a separate finding of fact by the court or jury shows that a firearm was used in the commission of a noncapital felony, the basic sentence of imprisonment prescribed for the offense in Section 31-18-15 NMSA 1978 shall be increased by one year, and the sentence imposed by this subsection shall be the first year served and shall not be suspended or deferred; provided, that when the offender is a serious youthful offender or a youthful offender, the sentence imposed by this subsection may be increased by one year.

Involuntary manslaughter and 1-2.5 years in jail seems appropriate honestly. It was an accident, but insanely reckless and incredibly preventable by just following basic firearm safety rules.

 

[Jonah Hill poster]

18 months in jail for Alec Baldwin seem like a real short amount of time. The way how the case and support has been handled, you would think at best he would only three years probation with the way how the law treats celebrities with these kinds of things.

Save for exceptions, of course.

 

[John.Doe]

For all the people just joining this thread, let me explain some reasons why this charge is appropriate.

It was an accident because of the retarded armorer! How is this a criminal charge? Baldwin is just an actor!

Lets start here, with the difference between civil and criminal negligence.

For example, let's say you're driving along the road. You're going the speed limit, radio off, picture perfect safe driver. As you approach an intersection, you hit a patch of black ice and slide into another car. Someone is injured, perhaps, but you aren't criminally liable because you were taking all due precautions that the situation reasonably required.

Now run the same scenario, but the previous day you got a ticket for having bald tires, or your mechanic told you the brakes were malfunctioning or were unsafe, or maybe you're driving with your lights off while drunk, or driving 30 miles above the speed limit. Now this a criminal matter because you were conscious of a risk and acted with a reckless disregard to the harm that could cause. You could have gotten new tires, you could have called a cab, you could have done a dozen things that would have eliminated or reasonably reduced a risk, but decided to say fuck it and roll the dice with other people's lives on the line.

This is the difference between an honest (civil) mistake and a negligent (criminal) one. The criminal standard applies to Alec Baldwin because he acted in a negligent manner. He consciously, knowingly ignored the basic standards of safety, and because of that, someone died.

Regardless of anyone else's fuckup, the bottom line is that Baldwin handled the gun in a negligent manner.

Any single competent person would have prevented this, but the tragic truth is that Alec Baldwin was knowingly reckless and negligent both in his overall role as producer and acutely as an actor. He hired poorly and supervised worse, creating an atmosphere of palpable danger for his crew, ignoring frequent 'accidents' caused by carelessness and crew walkouts in depraved indifference to the risk of death or great bodily harm. As an actor he failed to treat a potentially deadly weapon with the due caution demanded by the risk it posed, by recklessly pointing it at another person and either deliberately pulling the trigger or allowing it to discharge, he acted with negligence resulting in the untimely death of a crew member. Alex Baldwin is both indirectly and directly responsible for Halyna Hutchin's death - he created the circumstances that made the firing of that gun possible, and aimed that gun directly at her at the time that it fired. All other circumstances and failures, absent Mr. Baldwin's negligence and reckless actions, Mrs. Hutchins would be alive today.

Besides the raw legal theory that I just explained, there is New Mexico specific law and rulings that support a finding of Guilty on the charge of Involuntary Manslaughter.

Look up State v. Gilliam, 288 P.2d 675 (New Mexico Sup. Ct. 1955), about a very similar case where a guy was handed a gun, told it was unloaded, and then 'accidentally' shot someone who died.

The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in that decision, in relevant part that:

It could have made no difference to the trial of a charge of involuntary manslaughter as to who loaded the gun … . All that it is necessary to establish for involuntary manslaughter by the use of a loaded firearm is that a defendant had in his hands a gun which at some time had been loaded and that he handled it … without due caution and circumspection and that death resulted.

Pointing a gun you don't personally know is unloaded or safe at another person and pulling the trigger is prima facie reckless, and handling without due caution and circumspection.

In a just world this is an open and shut case, but he's rich and politically connected so who knows.

 

[ShaBooBoo Markle]

He gave a High 5 aswell after he shot her.

So he knew what he was doing

 

[WonderWino]

Alec Baldwin Will Not Be Charged For Shooting Of ‘Rust’ Director Joel Souza

Alec Baldwin won't face charges for the shooting of "Rust" director Joel Souza, who was injured after the gun that the actor was holding went off during rehearsals for the movie. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after being hit by the same bullet when the tragic incident occurred in October...

etcanada.com

So he's being charged for the killing but not for the injury to the director that was literally caused by the same bullet

 

[East_Clintwood]

Alec Baldwin Will Not Be Charged For Shooting Of ‘Rust’ Director Joel Souza

Alec Baldwin won't face charges for the shooting of "Rust" director Joel Souza, who was injured after the gun that the actor was holding went off during rehearsals for the movie. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after being hit by the same bullet when the tragic incident occurred in October...

etcanada.com

So he's being charged for the killing but not for the injury to the director that was literally caused by the same bullet

Yes, because involuntary manslaughter is a thing, and involuntary battery isn't. New Mexico doesn't seem to have a specific reckless endangerment thing either, unless I'm missing it because it has a dumb name (entirely possible I admit, for instance Texas has it as Deadly Conduct).
You could maybe get Baldwin under 30-7-4 Negligent Use of a Deadly Weapon:

(3) endangering the safety of another by handling or using a firearm or other deadly weapon in a negligent manner;

However I'm not sure if there's any useful/decent precedent for this, unlike with the Involuntary Manslaughter and the Gilliam case (and frankly I can't be arsed to go research it). Add in the fact that negligent use of a deadly weapon is only a petty misdemeanor and it seems like the juice probably isn't worth the squeeze.