The assistant director on the movie “Rust,” who handed a prop gun to Alec Baldwin before the fatal shooting last week, was previously fired from a film production after a gun incident injured a crew member.
On Sunday, a newly-released affidavit of on-set interviews from the Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Department revealed that while working on Rust on Thursday, Halls handed Baldwin the weapon and assured him that it was a “cold gun,” an industry term meaning the firearm didn’t contain ammunition.
Halls had selected the weapon from a table that held three of them and was set up by the production’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez. Halls told investigators that he was not aware the gun was loaded. Hutchins died Thursday and Souza was released from the hospital. Baldwin has called the shooting “a tragic accident” and said he is cooperating with authorities.
Baldwin last Thursday unknowingly fired a gun containing a live round on the New Mexico movie set. The bullet fatally struck 42-year-old Hutchins and injured 48-year-old director Joel Souza.
Halls had shouted that the weapon was a “cold gun” — meaning it was safe to use — before giving it to Baldwin, according to a search warrant issued on Friday.
No charges have been filed related to the incident.
Here’s an excerpt from The Los Angeles Times report:
The “Rust” cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot by Baldwin Thursday during a rehearsal of a scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch, near Santa Fe.
“According to a search warrant filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department and obtained by the Associated Press, Halls picked up one of three guns from a mobile cart that had been prepared by the production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed. Halls allegedly declared ‘cold gun,’ meaning the weapon was not loaded, as he was handing it to Baldwin,” the Times said.
Before last week’s tragic shooting on the set of Rust, the film’s assistant director, Dave Halls, and armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had been involved in several on-set miscues and accidents, Consequence has learned: https://t.co/kzq3zeQjqj pic.twitter.com/eTBkkDGoLg
— Consequence (@consequence) October 25, 2021
Hilaria Baldwin has addressed the “Rust” set shooting for the first time publicly.
The wife of Alec Baldwin posted a statement on her verified Instagram account Monday.
“My heart is with Halyna,” Hilaria Baldwin wrote in her post, referring to filmmaker Halyna Hutchins, who died after Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on set last week. “Her husband. Her son. Their family and loved ones. And my Alec.”
“It’s said, ‘there are no words’ because it’s impossible to express shock and heartache of such a tragic accident,” she wrote. “Heartbreak. Loss. Support.”
Hutchins, the film’s director of photography, died after Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on set Thursday. Director Joel Souza was injured.
Sources: WND, CNN, Forbes, New York Post, Los Angeles Times