Actor Alec Baldwin was formally charged in the fatal shooting that left cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead in 2021 on the set of “Rust” in New Mexico, officials said.
Baldwin was formally charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in the alternative, court papers show.
A probable cause statement accompanying the charges, which names Baldwin as both an actor and producer on the movie, states: “On the day of the shooting alone, evidence shows that no less than a dozen acts, or omissions of recklessness, occurred in the short time prior to lunch and the time of the shooting, and this does not include the reckless handling of the firearm by Baldwin.”
Previously, the actor denied responsibility for the shooting, which also injured “Rust” director Joel Souza. He claimed that in the incident he never pulled the trigger of the revolver and that Gutierrez-Reed should have ensured the gun was unloaded.
“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice,” his attorney Luke Nikas said in a statement. “Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun—or anywhere on the movie set. He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
Gutierrez-Reed has said she checked the rounds she loaded into the gun were dummies before handing it to first assistant director Dave Halls. Halls handed it to Baldwin, telling him it was a “cold gun,” meaning it did not contain an explosive charge, according to police.
And Jason Bowles, a lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed, told outlets earlier this month that “we expect that she will be found not guilty by a jury and she did not commit manslaughter.”
Halls has signed a plea deal for a misdemeanor charge and is expected to cooperate with the prosecution. On Dec. 13 Halls testified to New Mexico’s worker safety bureau that Gutierrez-Reed handed the gun to Baldwin and that he never declared the Pietta reproduction Colt .45 a “cold gun.”
Industry-wide firearms safety guidelines instruct actors to assume a firearm is loaded with blank ammunition. Live ammunition is strictly forbidden on sets.
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But Carmack-Altwies contended that the gun that killed Hutchins wasn’t properly inspected and that on-set safety issues weren’t properly addressed. Aside from his role as an actor, Baldwin also served as a producer for the film.
“On the day of the shooting alone, evidence shows that no less than a dozen acts, or omissions of recklessness, occurred in the short time prior to lunch and the time of the shooting, and this does not include the reckless handling of the firearm by Baldwin,” the documents filed Tuesday stated. “Baldwin, by act or omission or failure to act in his position as a producer directly contributed and/or failed to mitigate numerous reckless and dangerous actions during a very short time period,”
“Finally, industry standards, protocols, and common firearm safety procedures on movie sets require the armorer, after conducting a safety check with the 1st assistant director, to conduct a second safety check with the actor to be handling the firearm,” the court papers state. “This reckless violation of standards and firearm safety occurred two times leading up to the shooting, and Baldwin failed to act to mitigate or correct the reckless safety violations, neither in his capacity as actor nor producer.”
The court filing further alleged that there was a “reckless deviation from known standards” on the set, which lead to the shooting.
“Baldwin acted with reckless disregard and/or more than mere negligence in this incident,“ the papers said. ”Baldwin acted with willful disregard of the safety of others and in a manner that endangered other people and he clearly should have known the danger of his actions which led to the death of Hutchins. Furthermore, Baldwin handled the weapon in a negligent manner.”
Neither Baldwin nor Gutierrez-Reed have issued statements after they were charged Tuesday.
Before the charges were formally filed, Baldwin’s wife, Hilaria Baldwin, posted a supportive message on social media.
“I hope you understand how much your support and kindness to Alec and our children mean,” she wrote on her Instagram page. “Thank you for being our community and our village. You are helping us to be stronger parents and partners during this unimaginable time, stemming from such heartbreaking tragedy. Please know that I hear all of your outspoken words and each and every one of you reminds me daily that there is kindness in the world and we are not alone.”
