Police investigation continues to shed light on the death of Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for the film Rust, and the gunshot wound of the director, Joel Souza. Both were shot during the filming of this western, in the state of New Mexico (southwestern United States), Thursday, October 21. According to the first elements of the investigation, a shooting of a firearm triggered by the American actor Alec Baldwin is in question. Franceinfo takes stock of this affair.
The shooting killed two people, one of them fatal
The facts go back to Thursday, in the Bonanza Creek ranch, a western filming site located on the outskirts of Santa Fe (New Mexico). A call to the emergency services was made around 1 p.m. to report that a member of the film crew had been shot. According to a preliminary investigation report, quoted by AFP, Halyna Hutchins, 42 and director of photography for the feature film, was hit in the torso by an alleged fictitious gunfire, triggered by actor Alec Baldwin . The director of the film, Joel Souza, who was standing near her, was hit in the shoulder by the same weapon.
After being taken to hospital, Halyna Hutchins died of her injuries the same day. Director Joel Souza, who is still recovering, said to himself on Saturday “devastated by the loss of (his) friend and colleague”, in a press release sent to the Deadline * site. As for Alec Baldwin, he spoke on Twitter the day after the tragedy, after being questioned and then released by the police.
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There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and– AlecBaldwin (HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021
“I have no words to express my shock and sadness at the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a woman, a mother and an admired colleague. I fully cooperate with the investigators to understand what happened “, proclaim63-year-old actor, known for many roles in movies and on the satirical show “Saturday Night Live”.
Halyna Hutchins’ husband posted a praising tribute on Twitter “passion and vision” of his late wife, described as a rising star of American cinema. “Our loss is enormous, and we ask the media to respect family privacy”, he wrote in particular, attaching a photo of his wife with their young son. In another message, Matt Hutchins called for donations to support the scholarship created by the American Film Institute in memory of his wife *, for young women wanting to work in cinema.
Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words. Our loss is enormous, and we ask that the media please respect my family’s privacy as we process our grief. We thank everyone for sharing images and stories of her life. pic.twitter.com/LgEp4XVkja
– Matt Hutchins (@mhutchins) October 23, 2021
Two team members at the heart of the investigation
A question keeps coming back now: how could the weapon have been loaded with live ammunition? To find out, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is taking a close look at thehe role of 24-year-old movie gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed. According to the report, 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 Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal for a scene from the film, informing him that she was “cold”, that is, not loaded with a real bullet. According to the sheriff’s office, the assistant does not “did not know that the weapon was loaded with live ammunition”. After the fatal shot, the gunsmith was given the weapon and collected the used cartridge, before handing them over to the police on their arrival, said the preliminary investigation report.
No prosecution for the moment
Alec Baldwin remained at large after being questioned, lhe thesis of the accident seems to be favored by the investigators. On the night of Friday to Saturday, the comedian also retweeted an article from Variety whose title indicates that he had been “informed that the accessory weapon was safe before the fatal shot”, without adding any comments.
No prosecution has yet been initiated, said Friday a spokesperson for the sheriff. A search warrant was issued by a judge, authorizing law enforcement to seize the equipment related to the shooting as well as the weapons and ammunition used as accessories, as well as the clothes worn by the actor and the rest of the team during the drama.
Tensions evoked on the set
The telephone call of a member of the team to the emergency number of the emergency services (911), relayed by France 2 and broadcast by the British tabloids The Sun* or American TMZ *, seems to confirm the existence of tensions during the shooting of the film, without that this has not, for the moment, been linked to any negligence. The person (unidentified) who called the emergency services just after the tragedy kicked in when the operator questioned her about the presence of live ammunition in the weapon. “I can not tell you, we hear him stammering. And that bastard assistant director who yelled at me at lunch, (…) he’s supposed to check the guns, he’s responsible for what’s going on on set. “
Six members of the film’s technical team had also decided to leave the set a few hours before the fatal shooting, according to information from the Los Angeles Times*, to protest against their working and safety conditions, relating in particular to the weapons present on the shooting locations.
* All these links refer to articles or content in the English language