Earlier today, New Mexico prosecutors charged actor Alec Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter for the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust” [via Variety]
Baldwin fired the shot that killed Hutchins while preparing to film a scene in a church building near Santa Fe, N.M. The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, loaded the weapon. She’s also been charged.
It was one bullet that discharged from the prop gun. The bullet went straight through the body of DP Hutchins and into the clavicle of the film’s director Joel Souza. The set was immediately locked down. Ambulance and helicopters arrived. Hutchins died en route in an helicopter.
SPECIAL PROSECTOR REEB: “If any one of these three people—Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls—had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple"
Back in April of last year, Baldwin told had ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos that his “insider sources” within the sheriff’s department told him it was “highly unlikely” that he’d be criminally charged.
Basic gun safety dictates you assume all guns are real, and loaded with live ammo, and therefore lethally dangerous. Baldwin, as producer and gun handler, didn’t follow these protocols. Does he deserve jail time? That’s a whole other story.
The question I still have, after all these months, is who in the living hell loads a real bullet inside a prop gun? Gutierrez-Reed still has a lot to answer.
Gyllenhaal says women face systemic barriers in an industry that may not value the kinds of films they want to make. Roy Price’s response? Watch “The Bride.”