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The ‘Rust’ Shooting, Over One Year Later: Everything You Need To Know
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Friday marked the one year anniversary of the Rust shooting, when cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot when a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired on a New Mexico movie set, and while criminal charges have yet to be filed in relation to the incident, the shooting has led to other lawsuits, “sabotage” conspiracies and dark speculation from a former president.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department says two people are shot on the set of Rust when a prop gun is fired: Hutchins dies from her injuries at a local hospital while director Joel Souza survives a gunshot to his shoulder.
Baldwin is identified as the shooter of the weapon, which was reported to contain live ammo, and in his first statement he calls the incident a “tragic accident” and says he is cooperating with authorities.
Following reports that crew members walked off the set the morning before the shooting in protest of poor working conditions, including gun safety issues, police release a search warrant saying Baldwin believed the gun was “cold,” or empty, that live ammo was not supposed to be present on set and that Baldwin was handed the weapon by assistant director Dave Halls, who had an alleged history of being lax with weapons on another project.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza says over 500 rounds of ammunition, including suspected live rounds, have been discovered on set, and in addition to Halls, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed handled the weapon before Baldwin did; District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies says all options “are on the table” regarding charges.
Following a statement from Halls’ attorney saying her client does not know if he handed the gun to Baldwin and denying responsibility for the weapon, lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed suggest the live round could have been placed on set in an act of “sabotage,” a claim Carmack-Altwies later says there is no evidence of.
Former president Donald Trump, whom Baldwin mocked for years on Saturday Night Live, suggests in an interview Baldwin loaded the weapon and that “he had something to do with,” the shooting, a claim Baldwin later says made him fear for his safety.
In the first legal action taken over the shooting, Baldwin, Halls, Gutierrez-Reed and other crew members are sued for negligence by the production’s chief of lighting; another suit is later filed by the script supervisor alleging Baldwin wasn’t required to discharge the gun in the scene.
In his first interview about the shooting, Baldwin claims he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun in his hand, and that he was told by people “within the state” that it’s “highly unlikely” he will face charges related to the shooting.
Baldwin and others are sued by Hutchins’ widower Matthew and their son Andros for wrongful death, claiming her loss of life was caused by their “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures.”
Rust Movie Productions is fined by the New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, based on findings it “knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set” and “demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety,” a decision the production company later appeals; Baldwin’s attorney claims the report “exonerates” his client.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department says it still needs to complete a review of a report conducted by the New Mexico Office Of The Medical Investigator and review Baldwin’s phone records in order to complete the investigation and pass its findings onto the district attorney.
An FBI forensic report determines the weapon in Baldwin’s hand during the shooting could not be fired without the trigger being pulled when it was in half- and quarter-cock positions; Baldwin’s lawyer says the report was “being misconstrued,” and says “the FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition.”
The New Mexico Board of Finance grants the district attorney’s office over $300,000 to be used to potentially prosecute up to four people in connection to the shooting, and “one of the possible defendants is well known movie actor Alec Baldwin,” the request for the funds says, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
Baldwin, Rust Movie Productions, Halls and Gutierrez-Reed settle the wrongful death lawsuit with Hutchins’ family for an undisclosed amount; Matthew Hutchins calls his wife’s death “a terrible accident,” and it’s announced he will be an executive producer of the movie when filming resumes in January.
On the first anniversary of the shooting, a spokesperson for Carmack-Altweis said as soon as she receives the “full report from the Santa Fe County Sheriff, she and her team of professional attorneys and investigators will thoroughly review all the evidence and make a thoughtful decision about whether to bring charges against those involved.”
A spokesperson for Carmack-Altweis says the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department has completed its investigation into the shooting, and prosecutors have begun reviewing the information “to make a thoughtful, timely decision about whether to bring charges.”
It’s still publicly unknown how live ammunition, which was not supposed to be present on set, made its way onto the project and into the weapon. Gutierrez-Reed in January sued the supplier that provided the ammunition for the production, claiming it sent both dummy and live rounds.
Baldwin served as both the film’s star and one of its producers, but has maintained that his role as a decision maker on-set only involved creative choices. Because of Baldwin’s stark opposition to former President Trump and his firestorm SNL impersonations, many of Trump’s diehard supporters have harped on the shooting as an opportunity to get back at the actor, or suggest his liberal views are the reason he hasn’t faced criminal charges. Shortly after the shooting, Donald Trump Jr. began selling shirts that said “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.” The actor took a hiatus from public work following the shooting. In February he began narrating the podcast Art Fraud, and is starring in two Christmas movies.
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Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff
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