Shootinh

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The killing of Halyna Hutchins
(From Wikipedia)
On October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico,
cinematographerHalyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was
injured on the set of the film Rust after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a firearm
used as a prop, which had been handed to him by assistant director Dave Halls.
The incident is being investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.
Production of the film was suspended indefinitely. The incident sparked a
debate about the use of real guns as props.
Actor and Rust producer Alec Baldwin
Rust was writtenand directed by Joel Souza from a story he conceived with Alec
Baldwin. Filming began on October 6, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek
Ranch in Bonanza City, New Mexico, a ghost town located near Santa Fe. A
report from the Los Angeles Times revealed that several crew members from
the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) had been
advocating for safer work conditionsduring filming. A crew member added, "We
cited everything from lack of payment for three weeks, taking our hotels away
despite asking for them in our deals, lack of COVID safety, and on top of that,
poor gun safety! Poor on-set safety period!" The complaintsalsomentioned that

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a prop gun had previously fired three times unintentionally. However, the
production did not launch an investigation into the accidental discharges and
later claimed that they "were not made aware of any official complaints
concerning weapon or prop safety on set".
The beginning of Rust's production came amidst a potential strike by IATSE
members over working conditionsand low pay. On October 4, it was announced
that IATSEmembersvoted 98.68% in favor of authorizing a strike, with a voter
turnout of 89.66% of eligible voters. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
supported theIATSE and planned to strike over dangerous working conditions
days before her death. She wrote in an Instagram post: "Standing in solidarity
with our @IATSE crew here in New Mexico on RUST."
Responsible for overseeing all weapons on set was the production's armorer,
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, daughter of long-time industry armorer Thell Reed. It
was Gutierrez-Reed's second film serving as lead armorer after The Old Way,
where she had reportedly handed a weapon to child actress Ryan Kiera
Armstrong without properlychecking it. In September 2021, Reed said loading a
prop gun with blank cartridges was "the scariest thing" to her.
On October 21, seven unionized members of the film's camera crew began
packing their belongingsat approximately6:30 a.m. MT in a walkout. They were
told to leave the set, with a producer threatening to call the police, and were
replaced by four non-union members. There was no union prop master present
on the set during the incident.
Shooting
On October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, assistant director Dave Halls
selected one of threeguns used as props placed on a cart by Reed and handed it
to Baldwinbefore announcing it was a "cold gun" to inform the rest of the crew
that it was empty. It was the twelfth day of a 21-day shoot, and the cast was
rehearsing a gunfight that takesplaceinsideof a church. TheB-camera operator

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was situated on a camera dolly, looking at a monitor with Hutchins and Souza
both nearby. The scene involved Baldwin's character removing a gun from
its holster and pointing it towards the camera. While the trio behind the
monitor were repositioning the camera to remove a shadow, Baldwin began
explaining tothe crew how he planned to draw the firearm. Whenhe removed it
from the holster, at approximately 1:50 p.m. MT, the prop gun discharged a
single timeand theprojectileflew towardsthe trio behind the monitor, striking
Hutchinsin the chest and Souza in the clavicle. The incident was not caught on
camera.
Soon after, Hutchins was flown by helicopter to the University of New Mexico
Hospitalin Albuquerque, whereshe was pronounced dead. Souza was driven by
ambulance to CHRISTUS St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe,
where he was treated and released by the following morning. Baldwin was
questioned and released without chargesfiled. According totheSanta Fe County
Sheriff's Office, they have begun investigating "what type of projectile was
discharged" and how the event occurred.
Response
@AlecBaldwin
There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic
accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply
admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperatingwith the police investigation to
addresshow this tragedyoccurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering
my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son,
and all who knew and loved Halyna.
October 22, 2021
On October 22, 2021, Baldwin sent out a tweet expressing his shock and
sadness. He also indicated his full cooperation in the ongoing police
investigation regarding the incident, which was confirmed by the Santa Fe
County Sheriff'sOffice. On October 22, a search warrant wasissued by the Santa

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Fe County Magistrate. In an affidavit, the Sheriff's Office said neither Halls nor
Baldwin knew the prop gun was loaded.
An emailfrom the IATSELocal 44 claimed that a live single round was the cause
of theincident. In response, local authoritiesand law enforcement said they had
not determined whether the prop gun fired a blank or a live round and added,
"Wehaven't even begun the forensics on that issue." In the film industry, a live
round refers to a gun loaded with any material, usually a blank.
As a result of the incident, production on Rust was suspended indefinitely. The
Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office will conduct an investigation and refer any
appropriatechargestoprosecutors. Thefilm's productioncompany, Rust Movie
Productions, is conducting an internal review. The incident is also under
investigation by the state's First Judicial District Attorney, as well as the New
MexicoOccupationalHealth and SafetyBureau. On October 24, it was reported
that Halls had faced complaints about his behavior on two episodes of Into the
Dark, in which he disregarded safety protocols, and ignored blocked exits and
lanes. Additionally, Halls had been fired from the film Freedom's Path, where
an incident occurred when a firearm went off unexpectedly on set in 2019.
Reactions
The shooting sparked debates about the use of guns used as props on film sets.
Shannon Lee, the sister of Brandon Lee, an actor who died after an accidental
shooting from a prop firearm on the film set of The Crow in 1993, called for
prop gunsto be banned, stating that "withall the specialeffects that arepossible
and all of the technology, there is no reasonto have a prop gun or a gun on a set
that can fire a projectile of any sort". Bill Dill, a cinematographer who was a
teacher for Hutchins at the AFI, also suggested using special effects instead,
calling it "archaic" that "real guns with blanks in them" are used in film.