Alec Baldwin is being sued over the fatal on-set shooting that took the life of cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins. Baldwin is being sued by a fellow Rust crew member and friend of Hutchins.
The film’s onset armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, is also named in the negligence suit. However, she claims through her legal representatives that she was being “framed” for the death of Hutchins.
Fellow crew member sues
Serge Svetnoy, the film’s chief lighting technician, states in the lawsuit that the killing “was caused by the negligent acts and omissions” of Baldwin and others.
The negligence suit was submitted to a Los Angeles based court and states:
“Simply put, there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver or to be present anywhere on the Rust set, and the presence of a bullet in a revolver posed a lethal threat to everyone in its vicinity.”
According to the suit, Baldwin, assistant director Dave Halls and Gutierrez-Reed did not follow correct protocol on the handling of weapons and “allowed a revolver loaded with live ammunition to be pointed at living persons”.
When Halls handed Baldwin the weapon, he did so by using the phrase “cold gun”. This is industry lingo for an inert firearm. However, Halls later admitted that he did not fully check the weapon before handing it over.
As a result, the live bullet passed through Hutchins and hit director Joel Souza in the shoulder.
The film’s armourer states she is being “framed”
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers insisted that she did not know why there was a live round present on set.
“We are asking for a full and complete investigation of all of the facts, including the live rounds themselves, how they ended up in the ‘dummies’ box, and who put them in there,” attorney Jason Bowles said.
“We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed. We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived.”
After the incident, investigators found more than 500 rounds of ammunition on set. And according to Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza, this was a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live ammunition.