There has been a ton of conversation surrounding safety on set over the last few years, thanks to accidents and tragedies on set. The death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust sent shockwaves through the industry, and the fallout is still ongoing. And Rust’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed didn’t thold back when responding to the investigation’s findings.
The shooting on the set of Rust happened back in October of 2021, when a round from Alec Baldwin’s prop gun was fired and killed Halyna Hutchins. Since then the public has waited to see how the investigation would play out, as blame was placed on various folks online. This includes Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has filed her own lawsuit about safety on set. And when some of the investigation’s findings were released to the public, Gutierrez-Reed took umbrage with the lack of focus around exactly how a live round made its way to the set. As she shared in a statement provided by Deadline,
The primary question in this case from the beginning has been where did the live rounds that ended upon the Rust set come from? As can be seen from the attached emails, the Sheriff’s office made a conscious decision not to pursue this question at all by refusing to ask the FBI to test any of the rounds for fingerprints or DNA. We now know for certain there were live rounds on set. It is inconceivable that the Sheriff would not seek answers to this fundamental question and it raises a serious problem with the entire investigation. We have long sought this answer and will not give up in pursuing the truth to find it.
There you have it. Clearly Hannah Gutierrez-Reed isn’t happy with the way the Sante Fe Sheriff's Office is handling the investigation into what happened on the set of Rust. While there has been forensic work done into the weapon that discharged on set, she wants more focus on exactly where the live round came from that ultimately took the line of Halyna Hutchins.
Per the story by Deadline, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office reportedly didn’t attempt to use DNA or fingerprints to try and find out how the live round ended up in Alec Baldwin’s prop gun for Rust. The reason being given is that the materials might have been handled by any number of people across various sets. Still, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed wants the “who” and “how” of it all to become a greater focus in the investigation.
Since the tragedy on the set of Rust, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and her lawyer have been hard at work. After all, she was named during various lawsuits that have arisen since the shooting occured. For her part, Gutierrez-Reed personally sued Albuquerque-based PDQ Arm & Prop in January in regards to the live round.
The Rust investigation potentially spelled out some bad news for Alec Baldwin, as it claimed that the prop gun couldn’t have been discharged without the trigger being pulled. As for Baldwin, he continues to maintain that the weapon was checked by various people before it was put into his hands that day.
It’s currently unclear if Rust will ever be completed. Be sure to check out the 2022 movie release dates to plan your next movie experience.
