Alec Baldwin has officially been charged in the deadly 2021 shooting on the set of his Western movie “Rust” in New Mexico.
The 64-year-old actor was charged with two felony counts of involuntary manslaughter and involuntary manslaughter in the commission of a lawful act in connection to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the New York Post reported, citing a complaint filed by New Mexico prosecutors Tuesday.
Similar charges were formally filed against the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who oversaw the weapons on set. “Rust” assistant director David Halls agreed to take a misdemeanor plea deal for handing the loaded gun to Baldwin.
Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on the set of “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe on Oct. 21, 2021, after a prop gun held by Baldwin that turned out to contain live rounds discharged. Director Joel Souza was also injured in the accident.
The Santa Fe County district attorney accused the actor of “many instances of extremely reckless acts.”
The charging document alleged that when Gutierrez-Reed booked a training session to last for at least an hour with Baldwin, they only did about 30 minutes of actual training on how to operate the prop gun.
Baldwin was allegedly “distracted” talking to family members on his cell phone during the training session, the BBC reported, citing a statement of probable cause filed by Robert Shilling, a special investigator for the district attorney’s office.
While Baldwin previously claimed in media interviews that he did not pull the trigger on the gun and that it had just “gone off,” photos and videos from the shooting showed him practicing drawing and firing the weapon with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger multiple times, prosecutors said.
The “tragedy would not have occurred” had Baldwin performed mandatory safety checks with Gutierrez-Reed and not pointed the gun at Hutchins, according to the probable cause statement, which named Baldwin both an actor and producer on the “Rust” set.
“This reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting,” Shilling said. “Baldwin knew the first rule of gun safety is never point a gun at someone you don’t intend on shooting.”
New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies filed the charges Tuesday. If convicted of the most serious charge, Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed could each face a five-year prison sentence.
“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,” part of the probable cause statement filed against the actor read, according to the documents obtained by New Mexico’s KRQE News.
Investigators also alleged that 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.”
The charges were announced earlier this month by Carmack-Altwies and special prosecutor Andrea Reeb.
“If any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” Reeb said at the time.
Lawyers for Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have said they intend to fight the charges in court.
An attorney for Baldwin called the charge against his client “a terrible miscarriage” of justice.
“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,” Luke Nikas of the Quinn Emanuel law firm told Page Six. “We will fight these charges, and we will win.”
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