As law enforcement investigates the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins by actor Alec Baldwin in an accident on the set of Rust, court records show the probe includes the movie's armorer and assistant director.
Locals and members of the local film community mourn the loss of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died after being shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his movie Rust at a vigil in Albuquerque, New Mexico, US. Photo: AFP / 2021 Anadolu Agency
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and director Joel Souza was wounded when Baldwin discharged a prop gun containing a live round that he had been handed and told was unloaded, authorities in Santa Fe have said in court documents.
Hannah Gutierrez, 24, was working as the armorer, or person in charge of firearms on the set. According to an affidavit filed by a Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office detective, she prepared three prop guns and placed them on a cart outside the building where rehearsals were taking place.
After the fatal shooting, Gutierrez was given the gun and she removed a spent casing before handing it to arriving deputies, according to the affidavit.
Gutierrez could not be reached for comment on Sunday.
Just a month before Thursday's accident, she had spoken about how she had been worried her inexperience meant she was not up to the job when she began her first movie as head armorer earlier this year - the Western The Old Way starring Nicolas Cage, which is scheduled for release next year.
"I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn't take the job because I wasn't sure if I was ready, but doing it, it went really smoothly," Gutierrez told the "Voices of the West" podcast about Western films.
Jeffrey W. Crow, who supervised Gutierrez on the Cage film, told the Los Angeles Times he had been impressed by her.
"Working with Hannah, I'm surprised that any of this happened under her watch," Crow told the newspaper. "I thought she was an exceptionally young, up-and-coming, very eager and talented armorer."
Gutierrez followed in the steps of her father Thell Reed, a well-known Hollywood armorer. According to his biography on film database IMDB.com, Reed began competition shooting as a boy, performed in Wild West shows, and taught gun-handling to actors including Russell Crowe and Brad Pitt.
Reed did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Sunday.
Assistant director David Halls, 62, grabbed one of the prop guns off the cart and took it inside to Baldwin, yelling "cold gun", which on movie sets means the gun is not loaded with ammunition, including blanks, according to the detective's affidavit.
He did not know live rounds were in the prop gun when he handed it to the actor, the affidavit said.
Halls did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
An experienced Hollywood hand with credits on movies including Fargo in 1996, and 2003's The Matrix Reloaded, Halls is also an actor.
On Sunday, NBC News and CNN quoted a Hollywood prop maker, Maggie Goll, as saying she had raised safety concerns about Halls when they worked together on Hulu's Into the Dark television series in 2019.
"He did not maintain a safe working environment," Goll told NBC News. "Sets were almost always allowed to become increasingly claustrophobic, no established fire lanes, exits blocked ... safety meetings were nonexistent."
Film producer Aaron B. Koontz, who worked with Halls on two previous movies but was not involved in the making of Rust, told the Los Angeles Times that Halls was "extremely efficient" and a good manager.
A distraught Baldwin was photographed outside a hotel in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Saturday embracing and talking with Matt Hutchins, the husband of Halyna Hutchins, and their nine-year-old son.
Baldwin Friday said he was shocked and heartbroken at the death of Hutchins.
Photo: 2021 Getty Images via AFP
No one has been charged in the fatal incident as the local sheriff's office continues its investigation.
But multiple media and social media reports have raised concerns about safety protocols on the set of the low-budget movie, and have described a walk-out by several camera operators and their assistants just hours before the accident.
In one of the most troubling, celebrity website TMZ.com, citing unidentified sources connected to the production, said the gun handed to Baldwin had previously been used by crew members for target practice off-set, using real bullets.
Reuters could not verify the report and police in Santa Fe did not respond to inquiries on Sunday.
Among the concerns reported among crew members were other incidents involving prop guns. According to the Los Angeles Times, more than a week ago Baldwin's stunt double accidentally fired two rounds from a prop firearm after being told it was "cold", an industry term meaning a weapon is not loaded with ammunition, including blanks.
Rust Movie Productions said last week that although they "were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down."
About 200 people took part in the vigil for Hutchins in Albuquerque on Saturday. While organisers emphasized that the event was to honor Hutchins' memory, rather than focus on her death, some in the crowd held signs that read "Safety on Set'.
A second vigil is planned in the Los Angeles area on Sunday.
- Reuters