Three days after Alec Baldwin shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of a western in the United States, calls multiplied Sunday, October 24 in Hollywood to ban the use of firearms on trays.
Hit in the chest on October 21 after Alec Baldwin actuated a weapon used as a prop in the film Rust, according to a preliminary investigation report consulted by AFP, Halyna Hutchins had been transported by helicopter to a hospital in New Mexico, where she was pronounced dead.
A petition on the change.org site, calling for a ban on live firearms on filming and for better working conditions for teams, had collected more than 15,000 signatures on Sunday 24 October.
“There is no excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century”, says the text of the petition launched by Bandar Albuliwi, a screenwriter and director.
“There is an urgent need to address the problem of alarming (labor law) abuses and security breaches taking place on film sets, including unnecessary high-risk conditions, such as the use of weapons real fire “, also pleaded Dave Cortese, elected Democrat in the Senate of California. “I intend to put to a vote a bill that would ban live ammunition on filming in California, in order to prevent this type of senseless violence,” also said the elected.
The successful detective series The rookie, which takes place in Los Angeles, decided the day after the tragedy to ban all real weapons on its set, a measure effective immediately, according to the movie magazine The Hollywood Reporter. “As of today, it is recorded on The Rookie that any firearm shooting on the set will be done with soft air weapons (dummy weapons, Editor’s note) with artificial flames coming out of the barrel added in post -production”, announced in a note to his teams the producer of the series Alexi Hawley, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter.
The investigation into the death of Halyna Hutchins continued on Sunday, October 24, with the role of film armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 24, being examined by investigators. It was she who had prepared the gun with which the actor fired the fatal shot. She had placed it on a cart with two other weapons.
Assistant director Dave Halls, described as a seasoned professional, then handed this gun to Mr Baldwin during a rehearsal for a scene from the film, informing him that it was “cold”, that is, not loaded with an actual bullet in cinematic jargon. Mr. Halls does “did not know that the weapon was loaded with live ammunition”, says an agent from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
After the shot, Ms Gutierrez Reed was given the weapon and collected the used cartridge, before handing them over to the police on their arrival, the report said.
Dave Halls suffered from a negative reputation for allowing unsafe practices to take place on set, NBC News claimed on Sunday. “He did not create a safe working environment”Maggie Goll, a props designer who worked with Dave Halls, told the news channel, among other things, that emergency exits were blocked or that security meetings were not held.
No prosecution has yet been announced in this case but the accidental thesis seemed privileged. Alec Baldwin remained at large after being questioned. A search warrant was issued by a judge on Friday, authorizing law enforcement to seize equipment related to the shoot as well as weapons and ammunition used as props, and clothing worn by the actor and the rest of the team during the drama.
Evidence of the emotion aroused, a fundraiser launched by the union of directors of photography and intended for the family of Halyna Hutchins exceeded this weekend the 180,000 dollars, far from the initial objective of 10,000 dollars .
A vigil in tribute to Halyna Hutchins was held Sunday evening in Burbank, a town near Los Angeles known as the “media capital of the world” due to the presence of many film and television studios. Sadness and anger dominated the atmosphere, the participants wondering how such a tragedy was possible.
“I had the pleasure of working with Halyna”, said actress Sharol Leal. “She was a wonderful woman and … we are so shocked”, she added.