SANTA FE, NM –
Prosecutors announced Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons expert will be charged with manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed in 2021 on a New Mexico film set.
Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Althuis issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who controlled the weapons on set.
Halina Hutchins died shortly after being wounded while rehearsing for the western “Rust” at a ranch outside Santa Fe on October 21, 2021. Baldwin had pointed a gun at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
Assistant director David Halls has signed a plea deal to a charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, authorities said.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins’ death, described “some degree of neglect” on the set. But he left decisions on potential criminal charges up to prosecutors after presenting the results of a yearlong investigation in October. This report does not specify how the live rounds ended up on the set.
Baldwin – known for his roles on “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” and his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” – described the killing as a “tragic accident.”
He tried to clear his name by suing people involved in the handling and delivery of the loaded gun that was given to him on set. Baldwin, also a “Rust” co-producer, said he was told the gun was safe.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while he was working on camera angles with Hutchins during a rehearsal for a scene, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the weapon’s firing pin, which discharged.
The New Mexico Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the shooting an accident after completing an autopsy and reviewing law enforcement reports.
The New Mexico Bureau of Occupational Safety and Health imposed the maximum fine on Rust Movie Productions based on a scathing account of safety lapses, including testimony that production managers took little or no action to address two failed firings of blank cartridges at the set before the fatal shooting.
Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis for a $137,000 fine from regulators, who say production managers on set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.
The gunsmith who handled the firearms on the set, Gutierrez Reed, was the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier. An attorney for Gutierrez Reed said she did not put a live round in the gun that killed Hutchins and believes it was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they found no evidence of that.
Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition on the set on the outskirts of Santa Fe – a mix of blanks, dummies and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts said live shows should never be staged.
A photo of cinematographer Halina Hutchins is shown before a press conference in Beverly Hills, California on November 10, 2021. (Damian Dovarganes/AP)
In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department released a set of files, including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins passing in and out of consciousness as a medical helicopter arrived. Witness interviews, emails, text conversations, ammunition inventories and hundreds of photographs round out the collection of evidence.
State workplace safety regulators said immediate gun safety concerns were resolved when filming on “Rust” was halted, and that the return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.
Hutchins’ family – widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros – settled a lawsuit against the producers under a settlement that aims to resume filming with Matthew Hutchins as executive producer.
“Rust” has been mired in controversy since its inception in early October 2021. Seven crew members walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting amid disagreements over working conditions.
Hutchins’ death affected negotiations over safety provisions in the film crew’s union contracts with Hollywood producers and encouraged other filmmakers to choose computer-generated images of gunfire instead of real guns with blanks to minimize the risks.
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