After the shock of the tragedy, the questions. An investigation has been ongoing since the accidental death on October 21, 2021 of director of photography Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust, directed by Joel Souza, injured in the accident. The author of the shooting, the American actor Alec Baldwin, is traumatized by this terrible event which could be the result of a sabotage, according to the lawyers of the gunsmith of the shooting. They spoke on NBC’s Today show on November 3, 2021.
Resentment at the origin of the drama?
The security of the shooting as well as malicious acts are singled out. In a statement, lawyers for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the team’s controversial gunsmith, said: “Safety is Hannah’s number one priority on set. Ultimately, this shoot would never have been compromised if the live ammunition had not been introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live bullets are coming from.“According to US law, it is forbidden to use lethal ammunition on a shoot. They go even further in arguing that it could be sabotage:”There was a box of dummy ammunition labeled ‘dummy’. We’re assuming someone put the actual bullet in this box. Come to think of it, the person who put that live ammunition in the dummy cartridge box must have been wanting to commit sabotage on the set.. “But why sabotage the film and its shooting? The lawyers believe it could be related to the dissatisfaction of some members of the team with their working conditions. The lawyers add that on the day of the accident, the weapon had been left unattended for two hours.
For her part, Teresa Magpale Davis, the costume designer who also worked on the shooting of the western, had given her version of the facts, defending the young gunsmith. “I am pissed off by the stories being told, the information that we were overworked in dangerous and chaotic working conditions is totally false“, she wrote on social networks, relayed by Alec Baldwin. She adds:”The people who speak first in the press are not always the most reliable (…) The cameramen in question tried to renegotiate their contract in the middle of the shoot, they wanted more money and better hotels.“Enough to feed the theory of sabotage to” take revenge ” so-called professional resentments ? Dave Halls, the assistant director, admitted that he had not checked the weapon before the scene. He had already been fired from the shooting of the film. Freedom’s path in 2019 for similar facts.