Before the fatal shooting on the set ofRustthat led to the death of cinematographerHalyna Hutchins, investigators say the film’s starAlec Baldwinfailed to attend firearm training for the movie, adding the actor seemed “distracted” during a brief on-set training session.
Earlier this month it was revealed that the actor/producer, 64, would face criminal charges for his involvement in the death of Hutchins. Those two involuntary manslaughter charges, for both Baldwin and 25-year-old armorerHannah Gutierrez-Reed,were formally filed on Tuesday, with court documents highlighting the prosecution’s evidence.
In the district attorney’s office’s special investigator Robert Shilling’s probable cause filing, he writes that Baldwin “was not present for required firearms training prior to the commencement of filming.” The filing pointed out that Gutierrez-Reed said in her deposition that Baldwin had “limited training in firearms and how to check his own firearm as to whether it was unloaded or loaded.”
Gutierrez-Reed also said, per the documents, that Baldwin did attend a 30-minute training session but appeared “distracted and talking on his cell phone to his family during the training.”
Attorneys for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed did not respond to PEOPLE’s requests for comment Tuesday.
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Alec Baldwin on the set ofRust.Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office/ZUMA
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They added that Baldwin, in his capacity as producer, “allowed, though acts or omissions, the hiring of inexperienced and unqualified Reed” for the “firearm-intense film” and “failed to demand the minimum safety standards, protocols, and requirements on set.”
Back in December 2021, Baldwin said in an interview with ABC News' George Stephanopoulos that he “didn’t pull the trigger” that day: “The trigger wasn’t pulled. Ididn’t pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at someone and pull the trigger on them, never.”
Additionally, an attorney for assistant directorDavid HallstoldGood Morning Americain 2021 that Halls “told me since the very first day I met him thatAlec did not pull that trigger.”
Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins.Rachel Luna/WireImage; Mat Hayward/Getty/AMC Networks
Earlier this month, when it was announced that the two would face criminal charges, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers spoke out in separate statements.
Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas said the charges “distorts Halyna Hutchins' tragic death andrepresents a terrible miscarriage of justice.“He added, “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
source: people.com
