How Rust horror that saw Alec Baldwin shoot staffer dead rocked Hollywood as armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed trial begins
RUST film armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed’s trial begins today – two years after the movie’s cinematographer was fatally shot on set.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, died on the film set in New Mexico in October 2021 after a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round of ammunition during a rehearsal.
Gutierrez-Reed, 25, has pleaded not guilty to charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in an ongoing case that has rocked Hollywood to its core.
She claims she mistakenly loaded a live round into a .45 revolver that the film’s lead actor Baldwin, 65, was rehearsing with.
Hutchins was killed when the prop gun went off at point-blank range at the Bonanza Creek Ranch film set in Sante Fe.
Rust’s director, Joel Souza, was also hit and injured in the shooting.
The highly-anticipated trial is expected to last until December 15.
Gutierrez-Reed tried to get the case thrown out, but a judge ruled last week that it could proceed.
Baldwin was re-charged with involuntary manslaughter in January, despite having two previous charges dropped last April after investigators said new evidence had come to light.
The Mission Impossible star was charged against last month after prosecutors in New Mexico said “additional facts” had emerged following forensic tests on the gun used in the shooting.
On January 31, he entered a not guilty plea to the new charges. No date has been scheduled for his trial.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on Rust, is facing a prison sentence of 18 months to three years if found guilty.
The father-of-seven previously said he only pulled back the hammer of the gun and denied pulling the trigger that caused the gun to fire.
But his claims will be called into question at his trial.
He also has argued he is not at fault because he had no knowledge that the weapon contained live rounds as no live ammunition was supposed to be on set.
Baldwin called Hutchin’s death an “accident” and a “one-in-a-trillion episode” on set.
Timeline of events post the fatal shooting
HALYNA Hutchins was killed on the set of Western blockbuster 'Rust' - here is a timeline of key events that followed the tragedy.
October 6, 2021 – Production on Rust begins in Sante Fe, New Mexico
October 21, 2021 – Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is shot and killed by a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with
Nov 17, 2021 – The script supervisor files a lawsuit accusing Baldwin of ‘playing Russian roulette’ by pointing revolver at Hutchins
Dec 2, 2021 – Baldwin speaks out and denies pulling the trigger and said he has ‘no idea’ why live rounds where on set
Jan 12, 2022 – Armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed files a lawsuit against the ammunition box manufacturer for ‘failing to state the boxes contained both live and dummy rounds’
Feb 15, 2922 – Hutchins’ family files wrongful death suit against Rust’s producers
April 20, 2022 – Rust production fined over failures that led to ‘avoidable death’
October 5, 2022 – Hutchins’ family reach settlement with production company and Baldwin
Nov 11, 2022 – Baldwin files lawsuit alleging negligence of several crew members
Jan 31, 2023 – Involuntary manslaughter charges announced against Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed
Feb 23, 2023 – Baldwin pleads not guilty
March 31, 2023 – David Hall, Rust’s first assistant director, sentenced to six months probation after pleaded guilty for unsafe handling of a firearm
April 20, 2023 – Manslaughter charges against Baldwin dropped
June 22, 2023 – Gutierrez-Reed additionally charged with tampering with evidence
August 9, 2023 – The armourer pleads not guilty
Jan 19, 2024 – Baldwin indicted by grand jury again for manslaughter
Jan 31, 2024 – Baldwin again pleads not guilty
The live rounds
As the movie’s armourer, Gutierrez-Reed was in charge of firearms.
Investigators found six live rounds on set, including some in a box of dummy ammunition.
Prosecutor Kari Morrissey has argued that Gutierrez-Reed brought “live rounds on to a movie set”.
“She failed to discover them for 12 days,” Morrisey claimed. “She loaded one of them into a gun. It was then manipulated by an actor and very foreseeably someone died.”
The armourer was first charged with manslaughter early last year, but charges of evidence tampering were added when she allegedly refused to provide information regarding the live rounds.
Prosecutors also allege that armourer Gutierrez-Reed had passed drugs to someone on the day of the shooting to avoid being arrested herself.
Jurors will also be hearing evidence from text messages that suggest the armourer was drinking alcohol as well as taking drugs the night before the fatal shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed’s phone also allegedly contains text messages that suggest she was smoking cannabis at her hotel during production, The Guardian reports.
One text to a crew member reportedly reads: “I might go smoke in the jacuzzi soon.” Another said: “Headed down to get high out back.”
The state reportedly intends to use the texts to attempt to prove she was negligent in her role on the set of Rust.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers have accused the prosecutors of attempting to assassinate her character with “rumours and improper comments on her guilt”.
They declared that she is being used as a “scapegoat” for the shooting.
Last year, David Hall, Rust’s first assistant director, pleaded guilty to unsafe handling of a firearm when he handed Baldwin the loaded revolver.
He was sentenced to six months of unsupervised probation.
‘Terrible tragedy’
Hutchins’ widower, Matthew, filed a wrongful death lawsuit after the shooting but settled in October 2022 with Rust’s producers, including Baldwin.
“I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” he said after the settlement.
“All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”
Matthew Hutchins took on an executive producer role on the film as a tribute to his late wife.
The filming for Rust was completed, with additional filming in Montana, and is waiting to be distributed.
In May 2023 as filming officially wrapped, Baldwin said: “It’s been a long and difficult road.
“But we reach the end of the trail today. Congratulations to Joel [Souza], Bianca and the entire cast and crew. Nothing less than a miracle.”
Film set tragedies
'Rust' was far from the first on-set fatality to shake Hollywood.
The Crow (1994) – Brandon Lee, son of the actor and martial artist Bruce Lee, was killed in an on-set accident while filming the superhero film, The Crow. He was shot in the chest with a mishandled prop gun during a gangster scene.
The Exorcist (1973) – On the spooky film, actors Ellen Burnstein and Linda Blair would suffer serious back injuries after a mechanical malfunction took place during filming.
Twilight Zone: The Movie (1983) – Actor Vic Morrow and two child actors, Myca Dinh Le and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, were killed in a helicopter crash while shooting the film. The force of the film explosions forced the helicopter to nosedive onto the set, killing all three. The segment’s director was tried and later acquitted during a trial that lasted a decade.
Top Gun (1985) – Seasoned pilot and cameraman Art Scholl was killed in an aeroplane crash while filming Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise. His body and plane were never recovered.
Vampire in Brooklyn (1995) – While filming the cult classic, Angela Basset’s stunt double, Sonja Davis, was killed after she fell 40ft to her death.
The Walking Dead (2017) – A stuntman on the TV show died of blunt force trauma after he fell of a balcony on-set while rehearsing a stunt for the show’s 8th season.
The Maze Runner: The Death Cure (2018) – The third instalment for the dystopian film franchise led to lead actor, Dylan O’Brien, being hospitalised after an action sequence. It took him six months to recover from his brain trauma and facial fracture.