Alec Baldwin “discharged” prop gun that killed ‘Rust’ cinematographer & injured director

Blindside · Oct 25, 2021

Affidavit from the search warrant has been released, and is included in this Deadline article.

‘Rust’: Released Affidavit Reveals More Details About Fatal Shooting Accident – Read It

A Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department detective's affidavit for a search warrant of the location of the Rust shooting has been released.

deadline.com

The affidavit also suggests that only one bullet was fired, and that it went through-and-through Hutchins before striking Souza, who was standing behind her. Det. Cano wrote that after the film's armorer, Gutierrez, "was given the prop gun after it was fired by actor Alec Baldwin, she then took the spent casing out of the prop-gun." Here the detective uses the singular "spent casing."

It is believed that the slug that struck Souza was removed from him at the hospital and is now part of the evidence in the case.

The chief electrician on "Rust" blames the death on the "negligence and unprofessionalism" of the people responsible, implied to be the armorer, prop master, and 1st AD. (In a particularly chilling bit, he says he was standing shoulder to shoulder with the DP when she was shot.):

‘Rust’ Chief Electrician Says Halyna Hutchins Death Was Result Of “Negligence And Unprofessionalism”

Serge Svetnoy, the gaffer, or chief electrician, on the set of Alec Baldwin‘s Rust is laying the blame for the accidental shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the negligence of the film’s armorer and producers. In a scathing Facebook post yesterday, Svetnoy called out “the person...

deadline.com

A prop master walks through some of the many safety violations that took place leading up to the accident:

Hollywood prop master lists series of ‘breaches’ in fatal ‘Rust’ shooting

An experienced prop master detailed a series of mind-blowing protocol breaches that he blames in the fatal shooting involving Alec Baldin and Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Rust.”

nypost.com

A prop master who turned down working for the Rust production has some choice words about the producers who tried to hire him. If nothing else, it confirms that the producers in question are complicit in creating the conditions that led to the accident:

Veteran prop master turned down 'Rust' film: 'An accident waiting to happen'

Neal W. Zoromski has worked on movies big and small. But dealing with producers of “Rust” gave him “a bad feeling.”

www.latimes.com

He said he felt that "Rust" was too much of a slapdash production, one with an overriding focus on saving money instead of a concern for people's safety. Production managers didn't seem to value experience and were brushing off his questions, he said.

Zoromski ultimately told "Rust" production managers that he would take a pass.

"After I pressed 'send' on that last email, I felt, in the pit of my stomach: 'That is an accident waiting to happen,'" he said.

He said he also became alarmed because it was just two weeks before "Rust" was set to begin filming in New Mexico and the producers hadn't yet hired a prop master. Typically, those decisions are made weeks, even months, before the cameras roll.

Zoromski said he initially asked for a department of five technicians. He was told that "Rust" was a low-budget production and that plans were to use items from a local prop house. He modified his request to have at least two experienced crew members: one to serve as an assistant prop master and the other as an armorer, or gun wrangler, dedicated to making sure the weapons were safe, oiled and functioning properly.

But the "Rust" producers insisted that only one person was needed to handle both tasks.

"You never have a prop assistant double as the armorer," Zoromski said. "Those are two really big jobs."

Hey, remember that TMZ article where it was rumored that the gun involved in the accident was used for target practice? Welp:

Gun in Fatal Rust Shooting Used in Target Practice that Morning

Crew members on "Rust" had used the gun for live-ammunition target practice, or "plinking," and returned the gun to the set, an insider says

www.thewrap.com

The gun that killed "Rust" cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last Thursday was used by crew members that morning for live-ammunition target practice, an individual with knowledge of the set told TheWrap.

A number of crew members had taken prop guns from the New Mexico set of the indie Western — including the gun that killed Hutchins — to go "plinking," a hobby in which people shoot at beer cans with live ammunition to pass the time, the insider said.

A ban on live weapons on sets is being proposed in CA:

California lawmaker wants to ban live guns on movie sets after Baldwin mishap

A California state senator is proposing a ban on live weapons on movie sets in the wake of the accidental shooting death of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin.