“Rust” producer Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will face two counts of involuntary manslaughter for the fatal 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins, the New Mexico District Attorney announced Thursday. Charges will be filed at the end of the month, First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb said in a press statement.
Their decision regarding criminal charges relating to the 2021 Sante Fe County film-set shooting that killed “Rust” cinematographer Halayna Hutchins arrived at 9 a.m. Mountain Time Thursday morning in a written statement shared with media and the public.
The two women did not conduct a press conference or briefing. Neither of them appeared in public.
Actor Alec Baldwin fired the Colt .45 revolver that killed Hutchins on the set of the film in Oct. 2021 during preparation for a scene. Baldwin confirmed that he pulled the hammer back, but not far enough to cock the gun. Releasing the hammer caused the gun to fire, but Baldwin stated that he did not pull the trigger.
The gun was loaded with one live round instead of dummy rounds, and the bullet passed through Hutchins’ body before lodging in the shoulder of director Joel Souza.
Baldwin filed a cross-complaint, alleging in a lawsuit filed Friday Nov. 11 that three of the film’s crew members, as well as the man who supplied ammunition to the set, are to blame for the fatal shooting.
Baldwin named “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, assistant director David Halls, prop supplier Seth Kenney, prop master Sarah Zachry and the company PDQ Arm and Prop as “cross-defendants” in a suit originally filed against him in 2021 by the film’s script supervisor Mamie Mitchell. He claims that Hutchins’ death was a result of their negligence and, as a result, Baldwin says has experienced “immense grief” and suffered an “emotional, physical and financial toll.”
The actor had previously reached a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit of the cinematographer in Oct. 2022. In that agreement, parties established a timeline for the production to return to filming — starting in Jan. 2023. Hutchins’ widowed husband also boarded the project as an executive producer.
The film follows a 13 year-old boy in 1880s Kansas who accidentally shoots and kills a local rancher. Grizzled outlaw Harland Rust (Baldwin), the boy’s grandfather helps him escape jail. The two embark on a journey through New Mexico with a U.S. Marshal and a bounty hunter hot on their trail.
Baldwin received a “Story By” credit for giving input to Souza’s screenplay.
