Alec Baldwin has shared a Rust crew member’s social media post defending the conditions on set following the death of the film’s cinematographer.
The 63-year-old actor accidently, but fatally, shot Halyna Hutchins when a gun he was holding discharged during filming in New Mexico last month.
Police are currently investigating the shooting, which also injured the film’s director Joel Souza, on how it came to be that live ammunition was in the gun which, according to court documents, had earlier been declared safe to use by an assistant director.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed in a shooting on the set of the western film Rust. Pic: Swen Studios/ Reuters
Following the incident, there were reports circulating about safety on the set of Rust, with the Santa Fe county sheriff saying there had been “some complacency” in how weapons were handled.
Costume designer Terese Magpale Davis, who worked on the movie, hit back at the reports on social media, saying in a post – shared by Baldwin – that “the story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is b*******.
“These producers who supposedly don’t care about their crew have worked tirelessly alongside us.”
Baldwin had also been producing the film, as well as starring in it.
Davis also defended the armorer on set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was said to have given the gun to assistant director David Halls, who then handed it to Baldwin.
“The armorer had apprenticed to a well known armorer and had been in the same position on the same type of movie a few months before,” she said.
She also addressed the misfires that had reportedly happened on set before the incident, saying they were “accidental” and “more common than you think”.
Davis went on to say the crew sometimes had several safety meetings a day and defended Halls. She added that there should be more awareness of how guns should be handled on set.
“This is about gun safety, something we could all stand to learn a little more about so that we know if we’re seeing something a bit off,” she said.
“I know that’s not as much fun to jump on as vilifying producers. Personal responsibility is the last thing anyone wants to focus on in a tragedy.”
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‘She was my friend’, Baldwin says
Baldwin spoke to cameras over the weekend about the shooting, and paid tribute to the up and coming cinematographer that lost her life.
“This is a one in a trillion event. [Hutchins’ husband] is in shock, he has a nine-year-old son. We are in constant contact with him ’cause we are very worried about him and his family,” he told reporters.
“We are eagerly waiting for the sheriff’s department to tell us what their investigation has yielded.”
He also said that he was cooperating with the authorities.
Production of Rust has been paused indefinitely.
Prosecutors say it is too early to know if criminal charges will be brought in the case.