Actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting that took place on the set of the movie “Rust,” the Santa Fe district attorney announced on Thursday.
The film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of the guns on the New Mexico set, will be also charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter. The film’s assistant director, David Halls, has agreed to plead guilty to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon. His plea agreement includes a suspended sentence and six months of probation.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb announced the charges, which they said are expected to be filed by the end of the month, in a written statement after spending more than two months considering a final investigative report by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
“If any one of these three people ― Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls ― had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” said Reeb. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set.”
Baldwin said he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, with a .45 revolver on Oct. 21, 2021, while on the movie’s set. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was also injured during the shooting.
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice,” Baldwin’s lawyer Luke Nikas wrote in a statement. “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun ― or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles said she also planned to fight the charges.
“Hannah is, and has always been, very emotional and sad about this tragic accident,” Bowles wrote in a statement. “But she did not commit involuntary manslaughter. These charges are the result of a very flawed investigation, and an inaccurate understanding of the full facts. We intend to bring the full truth to light and believe Hannah will be exonerated of wrongdoing by a jury.”
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department opened an investigation in 2022 on the fatal shooting, which occurred due to the mishandling of the firearm on set. Carmack-Altwies’ office received the reports in October, and said they would be used to conduct “a thorough review of the information and evidence to make a thoughtful, timely decision about whether to bring charges.”
According to CNN, an affidavit for a search warrant released in October 2021 said that Halls handed one of the prop guns to Baldwin and called out “cold gun” — a term used to indicate that a firearm does not have live rounds. The affidavit also said that Halls did not know the gun had live rounds in it prior to Baldwin firing it.
Baldwin said that he was pointing the gun off camera toward Hutchins, per her instructions, and the gun went off without him pulling the trigger. Such mechanical failures are extremely rare, however, while human error is common. In footage captured shortly before the shooting, Baldwin appears to practice drawing the revolver from its holster, with his finger inside the trigger guard.
During an interview with ABC News in December 2021, Baldwin got emotional talking about how he felt about the fatal incident. But he added that he would not take responsibility for the shooting.
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said in the interview. “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”
As the film’s armorer, Gutierrez-Reed controlled the ammunition supply that police later found to contain live rounds — a major breach of protocol on a film set, which normally contains only dummy rounds and blanks.
Gutierrez-Reed loaded the gun with the round that killed Hutchins, though she told police she believed that they were “dummy” rounds. Films use such rounds, which do not contain a real bullet, to keep the revolver cylinder from looking empty.
Gutierrez-Reed was not present when the shooting took place. In a lawsuit against the film’s producers, her lawyer said she had to assume extra responsibilities after workers left in the union dispute, and that COVID protocols also limited how many people were allowed inside the small chapel where the scene rehearsal took place.
Had she been there, the lawsuit said, she would have kept Baldwin from pointing the gun directly at Hutchins. She told the film crew, including Baldwin, in several instances not to point guns directly at any other people, regardless of whether they were loaded, according a recorded interview disclosed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff Department.
The Hutchins’ family sued Baldwin and the movie’s producers in February 2022, asserting that Baldwin and the producers’ “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures” resulted in Hutchins’ death.
The family eventually reached a settlement with Baldwin in October 2022. A month later, the actor attempted to clear his name by suing the people responsible for handling and supplying the gun that killed Hutchins.
Questions about safety procedures on set were raised prior to the shooting as camera crew members reportedly walked off set protesting unsafe working conditions and lack of firearm safety. Shortly after the shooting, Baldwin posted an open letter on Instagram signed by 25 other cast and crew members addressing the allegations about poor working conditions on set.
“The descriptions of Rust as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and distract from what matters the most: the memory of Halyna Hutchins, and the need to find modern alternatives to outdated industry firearm and safety practices,” the letter said.