Alec Baldwin and gunman Hannah Gutierrez-Reid will be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” in New Mexico, officials said Thursday.
Santa Fe First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Althuis and Special Prosecutor Andrea Reeb announced their decision Thursday morning in a written statement shared with the media.
First Assistant Director David Halls has already agreed to plead guilty to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.
“After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the Rust film crew,” Carmack-Althuis said in a statement. “In my day, no one is above the law and everyone deserves justice.”
A Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department deputy investigates the set of the Bonanza Creek Ranch where a shooting incident occurred involving actor Alec Baldwin in Santa Fe, New Mexico, October 21, 2021.
Albuquerque Journal via Zumapress, FILE
Carmack-Altwies’ office said in October that she would conduct a “thorough review of the information and evidence to make an informed and timely decision whether to press charges” following a year-long sheriff’s investigation into the shooting on set.
Halina Hutchins, 42, was working as a cameraman on a western when she was shot and killed by the film’s star Baldwin during an accident while he was practicing using a Colt .45 revolver on set. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting.
Souza reportedly told investigators that Baldwin was sitting on a pew at an area church practicing the sign of the cross, facing the camera and crew and pointing the revolver at the camera lens when the shooting occurred, according to the search warrant affidavit .
Halls handed the gun to Baldwin while announcing “cool gun” to let the crew know a gun without live ammunition was being used, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Hutchins was killed by a live bullet in the gun, authorities said.
An image of cinematographer Halina Hutchins, who died after being shot by Alec Baldwin on the set of his film Rust, is shown at a vigil in her honor in Albuquerque, New Mexico, October 23, 2021.
Kevin Mohat/Reuters, FILE
The questions relate to how the live ammunition got to the set and in the props and whether the necessary precautions were taken by the crew members.
Halls reportedly told investigators he didn’t know there were live rounds in the gun when he gave it to Baldwin, according to a search warrant affidavit.
The attorney for “Rust” gunsmith Gutierrez-Reid, who was in charge of the guns and ammunition on the set, said earlier that his client had no idea where the ammunition came from and was not at the church where the rehearsal took place.
Attorney Jason Bowles argued that Gutierrez-Reid was not called to the church to inspect the guns before they were taken out, and that Baldwin did not accept her offer to train him in cross draw, a “dangerous” method of carrying a gun gun that started in the Old West.
Longtime Hollywood gunsmith Tel Reed, Gutierrez-Reed’s father, allegedly told investigators that ammunition once in his possession “may match the ammunition found on the set of Rust,” according to a warrant affidavit warrant issued last year.
The warrant authorized the search of a prop house in Albuquerque, PDQ Arm and Prop LLC, owned by Seth Kenny. Kenney reportedly told detectives he was hired to supply “Rust” with guns, as well as dummy rounds and cartridges, according to the search warrant affidavit.
Reid told investigators that he had worked with Kenny on set several weeks before filming “Rust” and that, according to the affidavit, Kenny took with him to New Mexico an “ammo box” containing live ammunition.
Alec Baldwin trains a scene with a revolver on the set of the western “Rust” before accidentally shooting and killing the film’s cameraman, Halina Hutchins, in silent video footage released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, April 26, 2022.
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office via Zumapress
Kenny denied providing live ammunition on set.
“There’s no way they came from PDQ or me personally,” Kenney told ABC News days after the shooting. “When we send dummies, they are individually tested before they are sent.”
Baldwin previously said he did not believe he would face any criminal charges over the incident.
“I had been told by people in the know, as far as even in the state, that it was very unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminal,” he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos in an interview weeks after the shooting.
The district attorney’s announcement comes after Hutchins’ family reached a settlement in their wrongful-death lawsuit against the film’s producers, including Baldwin and Rust Movie Productions, LLC, in October.
Carmack-Altweis’ office said the settlement “will have no impact” on whether she will press charges.
The incident also led to several lawsuits, including one filed by Baldwin for the negligence of his crew members.
“Rust” is slated to resume filming in January with all the main cast and Souza back as director.
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