Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP, File)

By Morgan Lee, AP

Prosecutors announced Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed in 2021 on a New Mexico movie set.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who supervised weapons on the set.

Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals for the Western “Rust” at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing her and wounding the director, Joel Souza.

Authorities said assistant director David Halls has signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon.

Alec Baldwin Rust Movie Shooting

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins’ death, described “a degree of neglect” on the film set. But he left decisions about potential criminal charges to prosecutors after delivering the results of a yearlong investigation in October. That report did not specify how live ammunition wound up on the film set.

Baldwin — known for his roles in “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” and his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live” — has described the killing as a “tragic accident.”

He sought to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and supplying the loaded gun that was handed to him on the set. Baldwin, also a co-producer on “Rust,” said he was told the gun was safe.

In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while working on camera angles with Hutchins during rehearsal for a scene, he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.

New Mexico’s Office of the Medical Investigator determined the shooting was an accident following the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.

Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in Santa Fe, N.M., after he was questioned about a shooting on the set of the film “Rust” on the outskirts of Santa Fe, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, officials said. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)

New Mexico’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has levied the maximum fine against Rust Movie Productions, based on a scathing narrative of safety failures, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires of blank ammunition on the set prior to the fatal shooting.

Rust Movie Productions continues to challenge the basis of a $137,000 fine by regulators who say production managers on the set failed to follow standard industry protocols for firearms safety.

The armorer who oversaw firearms on the set, Gutierrez Reed, has been the subject of much of the scrutiny in the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier. An attorney for Gutierrez Reed has said she did not put a live round in the gun that killed Hutchins, and she believes she was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they have found no evidence of that.

Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition at the movie set on the outskirts of Santa Fe — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds. Industry experts have said live rounds should never be on set.

In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department released a trove of files, including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping in and out of consciousness as a medical helicopter arrived. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, inventories of ammunition and hundreds of photographs rounded out that collection of evidence.

State workplace safety regulators said that immediate gun-safety concerns were addressed when “Rust” ceased filming, and that a return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.

The family of Hutchins — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew Hutchin’s involvement as executive producer.

“Rust” was beset by disputes from the start in early October 2021. Seven crew members walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting amid discord over working conditions.

Hutchins’ death has influenced negotiations over safety provisions in film crew union contracts with Hollywood producers and spurred other filmmakers to choose computer-generated imagery of gunfire rather than real weapons with blank ammunition to minimize risks.

97 COMMENTS

    • he ean a sloppy shop…and he pulled the trigger…he should be charged with something..he’s the reason she’s dead….

  1. Well, stuff happens when you hire an inexperienced armored to save money and get woke Diversity Inclusion and Equity points for your movie.

    • It wasn’t the scourge of ‘DEI’ on that set, it was straight-up, old-fashioned Hollywood nepotism that got that woman murdered.

      The armorer was the daughter of an existing Hollywood armorer, who obviously failed to instill actual ‘gun safety’ in his arrogant daughter…

      • No matter if you watched the weapon being cleared. When someone/anyone hands you a firearm and you do not ćheck it not only do you look like a dumbazz you are liable for what exists the business end. Therefore the negligent self absorbed a. baldwin is under the bus all by his lonesome.

    • Not to let the armorer off the hook for her obvious negligence, but are there any good reasons why Baldwin was pointing the weapon at two crew members who were obviously not part of a scene being filmed *and* pulling the trigger at them?

      • Yeah. In westerns there is often a scene requiring an actor to point the gun towards the camera. I am amazed that, following several notorious accidents, the US is so gun-happy that real guns are still used on sets. Especially conservatives scoff at me for this so responding to such nonsense and other stuff I now view myself as too logical to be associated with either right or left.

        • “……there is often a scene requiring an actor to point the gun towards the camera….”

          This can be done in a safe manner, the camera shoots a reflection of the actor/firearm via a mirror.

        • “I now view myself as too logical to be associated with either right or left.”

          *Laughing uncontrollably* 😉

        • “I now view myself as too logical to be associated with either right or left.”

          That’s for the laugh there, Mr. Spock, but perhaps you should go autofellate someplace else.

  2. He can go live in the trailer park with registered sex offender and serial groper Andy Dick when he gets out. Start a whole community of felon thespians. Leave plenty of room for the Hollyweird diddlers.

  3. 7 people walked off the set just hours before the fatal shooting? A box of ammo with a mixture of live, dummy blanks? Makes one wonder if there has been enough investigation into the box of ammo, the shell casing from the deadly projectile, and those that walked off the set?

    • 🤔
      Oh, so the ‘Four Rules’ don’t apply in that situation?

      Do explain how EXACTLY.

      Firearm safety ultimately falls on the PERSON HOLDING THE FIREARM.

      ‘enough investigation’
      🤣

      • How PATHETIC!
        TTAG has gone and REMOVED the post from Cato that my post above was a response too.

        • I never posted anything here you retard. My 1st post was below in response to:

          tommytwogun January 19, 2023 At 10:56

          Good job Ace, you win dumbkunt of the year.

        • GFY loser.
          That comment above was a response to you that has disappeared. 🖕

          Back on topic, Baldwin wasn’t cleaning a Glock and had no business pointing and intentionally discharging the firearm.

        • No comment disappeared.

          I never said Baldwin was cleaning a Glock. I said the sacred rules of gun safety (as originally written) don’t apply to all guns today.

        • You’re a pathetic lying POS Cato.
          My ” ‘enough investigation’ 🤣 ” at the end of my comment was in response to your deleted comment. You stated there may not have been ‘enough investigation’ into all the people who walked off the set hours before AB shot the director. Inferring there may have been a set up of AB before the shooting.

          You’re such a lying POS you’ll no doubt deny that.

          EABOD Cato!

        • Look at the post Daniel S. Just above what you first wrote here. It is the post you responded to, it talks about ‘enough investigation’ and ‘people walking off the set’.

          I will deny it because it never happened, no one else saw it and I can’t make make posts magically disappear. I told you exactly where my first post occurred.

          I know the interwebz are hard, try and find a 12 year old to help you out. That is if you are allowed to be around 12 year olds without supervision.

          Please stop, you make yourself look dumber with each brain damaged rant. Get some help.

  4. “he pointed the gun in her direction and pulled back and released the hammer of the weapon, which discharged.”

    And left out is that his finger was on the trigger. That particular gun can’t fire just by pulling the hammer back and releasing it, there has to be rearward pressure on the trigger. Its been shown in testing by the FBI and the gun is designed that way, and even Baldwin in a couple of interviews demonstrated how he was holding the gun and in those interview demonstrations his finger was on the trigger. He was literally ‘pulling’ the trigger

    • From Morgan Lee AP “Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins when the gun went off” Unfreaking believable. They just can’t bring themselves to ever tell the truth.

  5. IMHO – The four rules always apply. The person holding the gun is always responsible for what happens. Baldwin broke all 4 rules and is thus culpable for the results. Never shall the responsibility be shifted to anyone else who may have had custody of the firearm before you. If Baldwin hadn’t been so rabidly anti-gun, maybe he would have gotten proper training and this would have never happened.

    • Gman,

      There are a few exceptionally limited circumstances where the 4 rules do not apply. The most prominent circumstances off the top of my head would be firearm cleaning, firearm training, and live/recorded theatrical productions.

      In those situations, a different rule set applies to ensure adequate safety.

      I won’t go into all the details of those different rule sets. I will share just one very important example regarding theatrical productions. When an actor is pointing a revolver at the camera or other actors AND cartridges with bullets must be visible in the revolver’s cylinder, the theatrical production is supposed to use cartridges with a small metal ball bearing in the casing instead of propellant. All who will handle/oversee that revolver must then inspect every cartridge loaded into that revolver and shake it to ensure that it has a ball bearing which rattles around in the cartridge.

      • I do not concur.
        If you have custody of the weapon, YOU CLEAR IT. Period. End. Over.
        If pointing a gun at someone is required, it better not be a real gun.
        If going bang is required, it better not be pointed at someone.

        • Gman,

          I appreciate your sentiment. I am not suggesting that people do not have to be responsible when handling firearms. Nor am I suggesting that Alec Baldwin deserves a pass. I am merely stating that there are multiple circumstances where we necessarily break at least one or more of the 4 rules.

          How about force-on-force training with simunitions? Those use real firearms with real cartridges and the participants point and shoot at each other. That violates all 4 rules.

          How about carrying a handgun in a “Miami rig” shoulder holster? The carrier is muzzling people with a loaded gun all the time as he/she walks around in public. That break three of the 4 rules.

          How about someone carrying a firearm in a waistband holster on the second or third floor of some building with people on the floors below? He/she is muzzling people below. Again, that breaks three of the 4 rules.

          And last, but not least, how about actors filming a movie? They point and shoot fully operational firearms at each other.* Of course those are loaded with blanks. Nevertheless, that breaks all four rules.

          * Assuming that the movie requires smoke to come out of the barrel for the great possible level of realism, that production cannot used handguns with plugged barrels.

        • Definitely. I’ve gotten sick and tired of people online insisting that “industry rules are safer” than the famous four.
          Interestingly a Canadian who runs a company that supplies armorers and other staff for films compared their rules to what were supposed to be the rules for the “Rust” filming and came down on the side of proper safety: their procedure is that no one touches a gun without verifying that it is safe — in other words, in Canadian practice for filming, every person that even holds a gun waiting for an actor to take it is responsible for checking that it is safe. With their rules, while the actor may not check the gun personally he must at least observe it being checked by the person handing it to him and affirm that it is safe.
          It says something about Hollywood that our Canadian neighbors to the north practice better gun safety on a movie set that Hollywood does.

        • Roymond, Rust wasn’t a shoestring budget. It was a threadbare budget. Because of the producer’s (Baldwin) tightfisted stinginess corners were cut, if not completely ignored, and someone died because of it.

      • Sorry, if the “special protocols” used for film and theatrical productions allow you to point a real gun at a living human being and pull the trigger based on nothing more than some art major’s claim of “cold gun”, then those protocols are criminally reckless.

      • $ rules still apply, just because you are not following them because you believe you have mitigated the consequences isn’t a pass. This situation is a great example. The person handling the gun is still responsible.

  6. Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving turd. He violated all the basic firearm safety rules. If he didn’t violate those rules, then, he is guilty of Murder 1, Aggravated Assault, etc.

    -Treat every firearm as though it is loaded….with REAL LIVE ammo. for you dumb shits.
    -Keep your bugger hook off the trigger until ready to shoot.
    -Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy.
    -Be sure of what is beyond your target.

    • Rules two and three are hard to do if you own a Glock and want to take it apart to clean it.

      I regularly pull the trigger with my bugger hook to disassemble it while pointing it at my floor that I’m not willing to destroy.

      Dumb shit.

      • Cato, As to Rule 2, that applies to any gun? (rolling my eyes)
        As to Rule 3, if the gun is pointed in a safe direction and the the person cleaning the gun has already made the weapon safe and clear, it is really not so difficult. (again, rolling my eyes).

        • Eye rolling dipshit

          Rule two – How do you keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot – when not shooting? (Like when taking your gun apart.)

          Rule three – I guess you have a different definition of the word ‘never’.

          You saying it is okay to point a gun at a person and pull the trigger as long as you ‘make the weapon safe and clear’,

          When we go shooting together, you can hold the targets.

        • Cato, the UNwise one, As to Rule2, once the GLOCK is cleared (you do know what clearing a firearm means?) Rule 2 does not apply when you are disassembling for cleaning.
          As to Rule 3, if we were to go with your definitions, you would never be able to clean a firearm which would render it UNSAFE to begin with.
          Now, it you don’t mind, get your head out of your posterior.
          Have a Good Day!

        • “As to Rule 3, if we were to go with your definitions, you would never be able to clean a firearm which would render it UNSAFE to begin with.”

          No shit, that’s why I brought it up.

          Not my definition asswipe. Look ‘never’ up in the dictionary.

          ‘Rule 2 does not apply when you are disassembling for cleaning.‘

          When have you heard anyone say basic gun safety rules do not have to be followed when cleaning a gun.

          People like you are a fucking menace with , or without guns.

        • Cato, the UNwise one, Nope no shit at all. You haven’t the brain sharp enough to know about Rule 3’s exceptions. Most of us do.
          And yeah it is your INTERPRETATION of the definition, that seems to be the problem but then you haven’t the brain sharp enough for that either. (Rolling my eyes at an other bird brain response.)
          Were you absent the day that God passed out common sense?

        • You should never use the word never unless you mean NEVER. The word has one meaning, its not up for INTERPRETATION.

          Saying never do something, except…. is incorrect and would be a stupid thing to say. The correct instruction would be ‘Only do something when/after/before…’

          I took Technical Writing courses in the AF. You might try one.

          ‘Rolling my eyes…’

          Are you a 13 year old girl or what?

        • Cato, the UNwise, You never give up, do you? Seems that the English language and its usage is not your strong point. WOW! You took a “Technical Writing Course” in the Air Force. Does that mean you know everything about the English language and its usage? I doubt it. Do you even own a GLOCK? Pray tell, what Model? How do you disassemble it?
          Let me help you, here. The first thing you do when you are cleaning any gun is to unload it? You do know that right? With a GLOCK (AFTER UNLOADING) to disassemble (for your edification, we also call it, FIELD STRIPPING), you have to pull the trigger to be able to press the depress the Slide Release Tabs while you pull the slide back approximately an 1/8th of an inch and then slide the slide forward removing the slide (it has the barrel in it) from the handgrip portion of the pistol. Now, as the pistol has been unloaded and it has been VERIFIED BEFORE “field stripping”, “never” is met.
          Now pase do us all a very big favor and SHUT UP.

      • 💯% Strawman argument Cato.
        The 4 firearm rules work due to the FACT that MORE THEN ONE must be violated in order to have serious consequences.
        Jackass AB broke……….. let’s see now………🤔…….ALL FOUR OF THE RULES.

        Thanks for playing.
        Glad to explain this reality to you. 👍
        Bye bye now. 👋

        • You and Walter bang your empty heads together and work out the word ‘never’,

          If two out of four rules can’t be followed when disassembling a Glock….

          ‘FACT that MORE THEN ONE…’

          After you and Walter figure out what ‘never’ means, maybe Walter can explain to you that two is more than one.

          Imbeciles.

        • Cato, the UNwise one, you haven’t the common sense of an amoeba. But then education in the hands of a do-do is a dangerous thing.

        • Walter

          Zero education in the hands of someone that thinks they know everything is worse. (And dangerous when talking about GUNS.)

        • There’s actually a hierarchy in the four rules that allows lesser rules to be broken if a higher rule is honored. The hierarchy isn’t apparent with the standard iteration of the rules, but becomes so with a few amendations:

          1. Treat every firearm as though it is loaded with live ammo, unless you have just cleared it and rendered it non-operational.
          2. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, except when #1 is true.
          3. Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy, except when #1 and #2 are true.
          4. Be sure of what is beyond your target, unless #1, #2, and #3 are true (because if those are true, there really is no target).

          These aren’t stated but are understood by pretty much everyone who knows the rules.

        • Hey Cato, you’re the one hung up on the word ‘never’ you imbecile.

          See above………

          Posted by Roymond…….
          1. Treat every firearm as though it is loaded with live ammo, unless you have just cleared it and rendered it non-operational.
          2. Keep your finger off the trigger until ready to shoot, except when #1 is true.
          3. Never point a gun at anything you are not willing to destroy, except when #1 and #2 are true.
          4. Be sure of what is beyond your target, unless #1, #2, and #3 are true (because if those are true, there really is no target)

          If you can’t clean your Glock without following those rules, give it to someone with a brain and walk away you moron.

        • Nice try asshole. That is nowhere close to what was originally posted and you know it.

          I make sure the gun is unloaded and pull the trigger while it is pointed in a safe direction. Notice the absence of the word never. Those original rules have been around since long before Glocks were made and people ignorant of gun advances in the last 50+ years still spout them as if they were gospel.

          If these were the rules YOU follow, you would have said that in your first post.

          You are a lying sack of shit and an imbecile.

        • I see your initial post that I responded to has been removed. I stated ‘Four Rules’ in my post. You’re pathetic.
          Who’s the asshole? You are!
          GFY with a pile driver Cato!

        • James

          Calm down fuckface. I don’t know what deleted post your talking about.

          Here’s what you wrote:

          ‘The 4 firearm rules work due to the FACT that MORE THEN ONE must be violated in order to have serious consequences.’

          Should be ‘more than’ instead of ‘more then’.

          You are correct that you mentioned ‘4’ firearm rules. You then (not than) say ‘ MORE THEN ONE must be violated in order to have serious consequences.‘

          My initial post says I violate two of those rules disassembling my Glock and yet there are no serious consequences.

          I then say 2 is greater than (not then) 1.

          You then quote someone else’s rules as your own and act like you never said violating more than (not then) one rule (out of your original 4) would result in serious consequences.

          I don’t know who’s the bigger dumbass, you or Walter.

        • Cato, the UNwise One, If you had half a brain, you would be dangerous. What you think you know, could not fill the bottom of a thimble. Absolutism kills just as sure as stupidity. You seem to have both.

        • Jim, Cato, the UNwise One is not smart enough to understand what you wrote. Even with a demonstration of how the Rules of Gun Safety work. He’s like Forest Gump. “Stupid is what stupid does.”

        • Absolutism, that’s a pretty big word for someone that doesn’t know the meaning of the word ‘never’.

          Forrest Gump was the hero of the movie. He wasn’t stupid, he pointed out the stupidity of others. Kind of ironic (another big word) that you were/are too stupid to figure that out.

        • Cato, the UNwise One, Nice try at a save. But you failed as usual to address what was said. Forrest Gump was a “hero” but his statement, “Stupid is what stupid does” applies to you and your interpretation of the word never in the Four Rules of Gun Safety. But no one has ever accused you of being the sharpest tack in the draw, huh? When God passed out brains, you thought he said trains and took the Express right out of town. Only one problem. You forgot to pay for the ticket.

        • As an aside, I use the term “booger hook” instead of finger when teaching newbies the 4 Rules. They learn faster that way. I’ve literally told someone 3 different times keep their finger off the trigger and after each time they immediately put their finger back on the trigger. When I said keep your booger hook off the bang switch it seemed to stick and they followed the rule.

        • Cato, the UNwise One, you sure about that. Well, in your case, your snot probably has the consistency of water and about as useful as a bonding agent. Seems to me that there is more to education and knowledge than just reading a book.
          I refer you to the NRA’s firearms courses. Get a good instructor who can help you develop something we commonly call, common sense.

    • “Couldn’t have happened to a more deserving turd.”

      I’ll wait before the sentencing before coming to that conclusion.

      He has a *lot* of money, and yet may walk away from it…

  7. All guns are loaded, never muzzle anything you aren’t willing to see destroyed, don’t put your finger inside the trigger guard till you are ready to shoot, never shoot till you are sure of your target and beyond.

  8. I guess that white s0ci@list Pr0gressive heter0sexu@l privilege didn’t work this time. How about that.

  9. I want an answer as to how that live round got into that gun.

    If the family of the dead woman doesn’t demand that answer, that says everything about Hollywood corruption… 🙁

    • The fact that the husband of the deceased is now Executive Producer does in fact say everything you need to know about Hollywood. If that were my wife this movie would never be produced and multiple people had better be looking over their back for the rest of their lives.

  10. “The family of Hutchins — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — settled a lawsuit against producers under an agreement that aims to restart filming with Matthew Hutchin’s involvement as executive producer.”

    Only in Hollywood.

  11. It takes much more time and government money, in order to charge and prosecute a rich white s0ci@list pr0gressive criminal. That is why it took so long. And there is a “club”. But he ain’t in it.

  12. It’s about time Baldwin got charged with a crime for killing Halyna Hutchins!
    More proof that Democrats don’t give a shit about gun safety. They don’t know anything about gun safety, either. When it comes to gun safety, they don’t know and they don’t care.
    No matter how many times Democrats claim they’re in favor of “gun safety,” what they really mean is they want gun bans for everyone except their bodyguards and criminals. Democrats writing “gun safety” laws is like the Old Order Amish writing automotive safety regulations.

    No, that’s too harsh on the Amish — the Amish don’t drive cars, but I’m sure they know more about them than Democrats know about guns.

    • Nice comparison! I actually met an Amish mechanic once; he could strip a car motor down to its components and put it back again without referring to any manuals — but when it needed to be test-driven by the shop, someone else took it out.
      So at least one Amishman knew more about cars than I ever have!

  13. It will amount to nothing more than a feel good show trial. Baldwin even though he is a complete idiot will easily beat the rap but not so much for the armorer who was the real villain here.

    Baldwin will be a double idiot for trying to finish this film which will be sure to be boycotted by both the Far Left and the Far Right.

  14. Ya’ll notice – how now the media is not mentioning the off-set target practice by crew members with live ammo with the same gun Baldwin fired killing this woman.

    • I noticed the media has been saying “AB was holding the gun that “went off””.

      Pathetic.

  15. Hmmmm, greater than a year before announcing charges. Still no arrest. Something tells me if this was one of us in the comment section, “Justice” would be a lot more swift.

  16. Take Mr. Baldwin’s plight as a lesson. Somehow involved in a possible crime?? Keep your God damn mouth shut.

  17. I believe Baldwin used a Pietta. Pietta 1873 has a safety notch on the cylinder pin. Whom ever handed the gunm to Baldwin should have pushed it in.
    Click click click.
    Interesting the article mentions 7 crew members got pissed and walked off the job hours before the shooting.

  18. I was just at “Bearing Arms” – same basic story. BUT, it says – “Hall handed the gun to Reed who handed it to Baldwin”.

    In the reports that came out immediately after the shooing, Reed wasn’t allowed into the building where the shooting occurred, “Not enough room.”

    Sorry, I don’t have the link at hand. SAG (Screen Actor’s Guild) has a safety list for working with firearms. It’s up to the person handling it to check it.

    ‘Dummy’ rounds – a ball bearing AND should be drilled – two holes.

    Wore a revolver into Old Tucson Studios some years ago, in period dress, as part of a group. “Wait here till security can check the weapon.” A replica of the 58 Remington, cap and ball. The youngster who ‘checked’ it – I don’t think he’d ever seen one before. “Any ammunition?” “No.” “OK”.

  19. he ean a sloppy shop…and he pulled the trigger…he should be charged with something..he’s the reason she’s dead….

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