USA: Actor Alec Baldwin and set armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reid were charged on Tuesday with shooting and killing cinematographer Halina Hutchins on the set of the 2021 Western film "Rust", according to court documents.
After months of speculation about whether she had evidence that Baldwin criminally disregarded safety when practicing with a revolver that killed Hutchins, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altweiss filed charges.
Baldwin is listed as an actor and producer on the film, along with a probable cause statement, which also notes that Baldwin handled the gun carelessly on the day of the shooting.
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"On the day of the shooting alone, the evidence shows that at least a dozen acts, or omissions, of negligence occurred before lunch and at the time of the shooting, and this does not include the negligent handling of firearms by Baldwin," the statement reads.
The "30 Rock" actor has claimed responsibility for the shooting, claiming that Gutierrez-Reid and other gun experts were responsible for making sure it was unloaded and that he only cocked the revolver but never pulled the trigger did not draw
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Before turning the gun over to first assistant director Dave Halles, Gutierrez-Reid claimed the rounds were fake. According to police, Halles gave it to Baldwin and explained that it was a "cold gun", noting that it did not contain an explosive charge.
Hall entered into a plea agreement to resolve to a misdemeanor charge, and prosecutors anticipate his cooperation.
On December 13, Hall testified to the New Mexico Bureau of Employee Safety that Gutierrez-Reid had given Baldwin the gun and that he never referred to the Pieta replica Colt.45 as a "cold gun".
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Actors are instructed by industry-wide firearms safety regulations to assume that a gun is loaded with blank rounds. Live ammunition is strictly prohibited on the sets.