Today Santa Fe prosecutors announced charges in the shooting of Halyna Hutchins, which occurred 15 months ago on the set of the Western movie Rust. Actor Alec Baldwin, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls have all been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
Halyna Hutchins was killed by a bullet fired from Alec Baldwin’s gun. At the time of the incident, Baldwin was practicing drawing his gun from his holster and reportedly thought the gun was “cold” when it was handed to him.
Since then, Baldwin has been adamant that it was an accident and that he didn’t pull the trigger. However, a damning FBI report and multiple police interviews have contributed to the decision to charge Baldwin with involuntary manslaughter.
The FBI report concluded that Baldwin had to have pulled the trigger in order for the gun to fire – a devastating finding for Baldwin, who had denied pulling the trigger. His attorneys have argued that the gun fired only once in testing and that the gun was in such poor condition that the FBI was unable to fire it in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger.
In the months since the shooting, the production has been plagued with staff complaints and lawsuits. Days before the incident, several members of the cast and crew walked off the set due to concerns over safety, long hours, and not receiving paychecks on time.
After the incident, Baldwin released a statement expressing his shock and sadness. He also sat down for an interview with ABC, emphatically denying he pulled the trigger and saying he didn’t believe himself to be responsible.
Baldwin said, “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who it is, but it’s not me.”
“Honest to God, if I thought I was responsible I might have killed myself. And I don’t say that lightly,” he continued.
These statements and interviews have been used in the case against Baldwin.
