Despite actor Alec Baldwin pulling the trigger and fatally shooting Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021, film armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is the one apparently taking the fall, with a court date set for August 9 on involuntary manslaughter charges.
The Santa Fe District Attorney’s office has accused Gutierrez-Reed of “sloppy mishandling of firearms.”
The New York Post reported, “The rookie had been in charge of initially loading the vintage Colt .45 revolver Baldwin ultimately used in the October 2021 disaster. But she then allegedly left the church set where the scene was being filmed and was not present when the life-ending shot was fired. She claimed later to police no one notified her the weapon was being used on the set.”
Live rounds and dummy rounds were found together on the Rust set, which is a violation of safety standards, of which Gutierrez-Reed was reportedly in charge.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers said regarding her charges, “The new special prosecutor team has taken a very diligent and thorough approach … They are seeking the truth and we are also … We fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be exonerated.”
Despite Baldwin claiming he did not pull the trigger that delivered the fatal shots, FBI investigators previously determined “there was no other way the shot could have been have been fired,” as the Post reports.
Baldwin was cleared of his charges “without prejudice” last week, with his attorneys Nikas and Alex Spiro saying in a statement, “We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident.”
Alec Baldwin gets off scot-free of criminal charges from deadly ‘Rust’ shooting