Hollywood star Alec Baldwin has accused several crew members on the set of the film ‘Rust’ of negligence, which led to the death of Halyna Hutchins. He filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday hoping to “clear his name.”
The tragic incident took place a year ago during the production of the film at a ranch in New Mexico. Baldwin fired a live round from a prop revolver, fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. The actor claimed he had been assured that it was a ‘cold’ gun, meaning it was either empty or loaded with dummy rounds. No one has been charged with a crime so far.
Baldwin’s suit names the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of handling guns and ammunition on set, and first assistant director Dave Halls, who handed him the gun that day and said it was safe. The two other co-defendants are Sarah Zachry, who was in charge of props, and Seth Kenney, the owner of a firm that supplied weapons and ammunition to the set.
Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, alleges that the “tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun.” He claims that crew members broke the safety rules when handling the firearm, which led to Hutchins’ death. The suit further alleges that Kenney kept his firm in “disarray” and stored ammunition “haphazardly.”
More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy. By these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name.
According to the suit, the actor “must live with the immense grief, and the resulting emotional, physical, and financial toll, caused by the fact that cross-defendants’ negligent conduct, assurances, and supervision put a loaded weapon in his hand and led him, Hutchins, and everyone else on set to believe that his directed use of the weapon was safe.”
Baldwin’s counter-complaint came after Mamie Mitchell, the film’s script supervisor, sued Baldwin, Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, and other production members last year, seeking damages for the “physical and emotional harm” she has suffered as a result of Hutchins’ death.
In January, Gutierrez-Reed sued Kenney, claiming that he provided an ammunition box to the set, which contained a mix of dummy and live rounds.
Hutchins’ family settled a wrongful death lawsuit with the production company last month. “I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame,” Halyna Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, said.
