Rust movie Alec Baldwin incident

On October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Bonanza City, New Mexico, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set of the film Rust, when a live round was discharged from a revolver, used as a prop by actor Alec Baldwin.

Halyna Anatoliivna Hutchins Hutchins was born on April 9,1979, in Horodets, Ukraine. She grew up in the Russian city of Murmansk, on a Soviet military base in the Arctic. There, her father served in the Soviet Navy. She called herself an “army brat”. Hutchins graduated with a degree in international journalism and worked on documentary films, as an investigative journalist in Eastern Europe. She met her husband Matthew, who is American, while in the US They had a son, Andros. Though living in the US, she maintained her Ukrainian citizenship, remained proud of her heritage and often returned to visit.

Alexander Rae Baldwin III born April 3, 1958, is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He is known for his leading and supporting roles in a variety of genres, from comedy to drama, and has received numerous accolades including three Primetime Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe Awards, as well as nominations for a Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and Tony Award. He is best known for his movies, Beetlejuice, The hunt for red October, tv show 30 Rock. He was married to the famous actress Kim Bassinger before they got a divorce.

The incident of the Rust movie was investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On January 19, 2023, the Santa Fe district attorney announced that Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, would be charged with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, and in the alternative, with two counts each of manslaughter.

First assistant director Dave Halls agreed to plead guilty to the charge of the negligent use of a deadly weapon. On January 31, 2023, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed were formally charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. On February 23, 2023, Baldwin pleaded not guilty and on April 20, 2023, it was reported that prosecutors had informed Baldwin that the charges against him were being dropped. On June 22, 2023, Gutierrez-Reed was additionally charged with tampering with evidence, and on August 9, 2023, she pleaded not guilty to both charges. You can watch her trial on Youtube.

I have been following this since the day it happened. I watched and read everything about it, following the incident. I’m also watching the live trial on Youtube. It’s very sad that yet another person lost their life on a movie set, due to negligence. I’m reading people’s opinions on the matter left and right. People are accusing Alec, others Hannah, or Dave. Everyone involved in the incident is blaming each other. We don’t know all the facts yet. They are slowly coming to light as the trial unfolds. But we certainly can have an opinion. 

For now, my opinion on the matter is that Alec is not guilty, but that is my personal opinion. A lot of people seem to think it was his job to make sure that the gun was safe. Well, let me tell you that, I don’t believe it was. Not everyone in the world, is familiar with guns. I personally am not. I have been at the shooting range a few times, but do i know everything about guns, no i don’t. I am learning a lot through this trial however. A lot of people don’t know anything about guns! Many seem to think that everyone, knows how to load them, clean them, keep them safe etc. There are more people that don’t own guns, than there are people that own them. So you are going to tell me that every actors, should know how guns work, in every movies they shoot? It’s not their job to be familiar with guns and Alec doesn’t strike me as someone who does.

The armorer Hannah and Dave, should have checked the gun before it was handed to an actor. They did not. Dave trusted Hannah and just handed the gun to Alec. He yelled that the gun was “cold” As an actor, why would Alec not trust him, if he doesn’t know anything about guns. People who don’t like him, are ready to throw him under a bus.

A shooting incident on a movie set is a very rare occurrence. Im sure a lot of people remember The Crow incident, where actor Brandon Lee, son of Bruce Lee, lost his life. The tip of a .44-caliber bullet had become lodged in the gun’s barrel, in filming a close-up scene, and dislodged when a blank cartridge was fired. The bullet pierced Mr. Lee’s abdomen, damaging several organs and lodging in his spine.

The actor Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally shot himself in the head while playing Russian roulette on the set of the television series “Cover Up” in October 1984. As you can see, it is not very common. It seems that someone was negligent enough, to bring a live bullet to the set of the movie Rust. For anyone saying that Alec should have never pointed the gun at Halyna, I remember reading somewhere that it was asked of him to do that. In fact, this happen in a lot of movie where actors point the gun at the camera.

I don’t think we should blame an actor for doing their job. Their job is acting, not making sure an item from the set is safe or not. They do their job assuming everything is safe, as it should. This isn’t the real world people, it’s a movie set. That’s why they used blank and dummy bullets, so that they don’t have to waste time, going though all the safety protocols, and having to train everyone on set that will handle a gun.

I am going to keep this post updated as I continue watching the trial.

On day 2 of the trial, we now have a bomb dropped ! It looks like someone wanted to make money out of this incident, and i find it utterly disgusting and hypocritical to say the least. Ross Addiego is not fooling me at all, with his crocodile tears. He couldn’t even tell the defense, what injury he sustained through the shooting, while he was far from the incident, as he told the jury, when he explained how it unfolded. He is suing Alec and Dave for what ? Nothing happened to him personally. I hope he loses his lawsuit. He used what happened to make money out of it, out of someone who lost their lives and another who was injured. People will do anything to make a quick buck. He is showing his true colors. Very good actor as well. Starts crying for 2 seconds then stop right away when being ask questions. Very well done Mr Addiego. I don’t think you fooled anyone, looking at the comments section on Youtube. It’s kind of embarrassing watching him “act”. I guess i would cry too for 1 Million dollar.

I just saw a clip of the rust movie, during the trial where Alec Baldwin is rushing everyone to redo a scene, reload weapons. That is a big no no ! Especially when it involved having weapons on the set, why would you do that. I get that time is money on a movie set, but that is the worse idea, to rush an armorer to do her job, with a weapon, around so many people. Very irresponsible from Mr. Baldwin to rush her, doing her job, this way. The expert armorer on stand, Mr Bryan W. Carpenter even says so.

Dave Halls testimony on day 6 of the trial made me sad to hear. He seemed genuinely sad and shaken up by the death of Halyna. He seemed pretty honest on the stand. Sarah Zachary on the other hand is a person i would not want to work with. I’ve seen her type of personality, that usually clash with other woman. Hollier than thou attitude. Her fake reaction for the jury when the prosecution asked her if Hannah called her the “C bomb” on set. Would you give me a break. Some people are so transparent on the stand, that i could literally read an inscription on the wall right through them. You could tell that she doesn’t like Hannah, by her expressions. She didn’t know anything, or remember anything for the defense, but remember everything for the prosecution. What an eye rolling moment.

I hope the jurors can see through all this. It’s disgusting to watch how some people would literally throw you under a bus to save their own skin.

The next day we get Cherlyn Schaefer, another “victim” from the Rust shooting incident, who claim she did it, because she looked at her son when she went home, that is the same age as Halyna, and she is sad she couldn’t do anything. Well maybe lady, if you had gunshot wound medical experience, you maybe could have had a chance to save her. How is her lawsuit supposed to change these already, very strict security protocol on a movie set ?

Hannah was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter. Everyone from that movie set were eager to find this girl guilty, and get money from suing everyone. Being rush to do your job properly, is a recipe for disaster. Having a second job and not being able to focus on your main job, is another one. Something bad was bound to happen on that movie set with how much of a mess that whole thing was from the beginning. Even the whole set was a mess, stuff, bullets; fake, dummy, live, blank, everywhere. While i think Hannah should’ve made sure she checked the gun she handed properly, i don’t think she was the only one to blame for this incident.

It’s disgusting to see when people don’t like you, how quick they will throw you under the bus to save their own skin and blame you for everything that happened. Alec Baldwin’s manslaughter trial in ‘Rust’ shooting scheduled for July. I will watch that one as well, hopefully they will allow camera on that trial as well.

What are your thoughts on what happened and the verdict ?