Lawyers say the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust” could lead to civil action. It is unclear if the criminal charges will be pressed against the crew members who inspected the prop gun fired by Alec Baldwin. The New Mexico authorities are still investigating the incident.
The investigators learned more about what happened and discovered that Baldwin was practicing for a scene when the gun went off. While going through his preparations, he was using the gun, that was loaded with a live round instead of a blank. Baldwin fired the gun, and the bullet went through Joel Souza’s shoulder and then hit Halyna Hutchins, which led to her death.
Investigators are looking at who was involved and talking with all crew members to determine those responsible for the gun and bringing live ammunition on set. They are also looking for who was responsible for managing the weapon’s safety before being handed to Alec Baldwin.
While searching, authorities discovered that the assistant director, David Halls, handed Baldwin the prop firearm that killed Hutchins and did not check if the revolver was clear of all rounds before declaring it a “cold gun.”
Halls was responsible for picking up the gun and bringing it to the production armorer, Hannah Gutierrez. Halls also said there were only three rounds in the gun before being handed to Baldwin, expecting them to all be blanks according to the police warrant.
Gutierrez was said to have secured the weapons for the film on a prop truck. However, the ammo was left on a cart onset and not secured. After coming back from lunch, the weapons were retrieved by the property manager, Sarah Zackery.
Zackery then gave Gutierrez the weapons. Gutierrez told authorities that she believed no live ammo to be on set. Joel, injured in the shooting, also stated that live ammunition should never be allowed on set.
Halls was discovered to have had similar incidents like this happen while on set. In 2019, he was involved in another unexpected firearm discharge and was fired because of the incident.
A lawyer in the investigation said that Alec Baldwin is not expected to face any charges. Still, Baldwin could be held liable for the actions of other involved individuals, making him accountable because he is one of the film’s producers.
No one has been charged, and the family of Hutchins is not expected to press charges if the cause is proven to be negligence. The investigation has retrieved the gun, and according to Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, this case is currently considered an accidental shooting.