Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the young gunsmith of the film “Rust” on the set of which the director of photography was accidentally killed by Alec Baldwin on October 21, accuses her supplier of having given her “ammunition which was wrongly presented as dummy”.
The gunsmith from the set of “Rust”, on which a filmmaker was accidentally killed by actor Alec Baldwin, filed a complaint on Wednesday against the supplier of the ammunition used for this western, accusing him of having left live ammunition in the middle of the dummy cartridges. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the gunsmith in charge for this film shot in New Mexico, where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally injured on October 21. She had been hit by a real bullet which was in the revolver presented to Alec Baldwin as a harmless weapon and which he activated while rehearsing a scene.
In accordance with the safety rules in force in the film industry, live ammunition is totally prohibited on set, precisely to avoid this type of accident. In her civil complaint filed Wednesday in a New Mexico court, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed accuses the supplier, Seth Kenney, of supplying the production of “Rust” with “ammunition that was misrepresented as ammunition dummy”, therefore inert and devoid of powder, “while they contained both dummy and real ammunition”.
To read : A photo of Alec Baldwin and Hylana Hutchins, moments before his death, revealed
Live ammunition
According to the account given by the gunsmith in her complaint, the police discovered after the drama “seven bullets” suspected of being real. They were divided between a box of cartridges, a trolley on which were other ammunition, and cartridge pouches intended to serve as accessories for the actors. For the young gunsmith and her lawyers, Seth Kenney and his company “created dangerous conditions on the set, without the knowledge of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed”.
Their culpable negligence “resulted in the introduction of live ammunition on the set, which resulted in a foreseeable disaster”, insists the complaint, which claims damages without specifying the amount. Seth Kenney had indicated to the investigators that he had potentially been able to sell to the production of the film ammunition assembled by hand – perhaps from recycled elements – whose logo corresponds to that appearing on the mortal cartridge. But he then formally ruled out this possibility in an interview with ABC.
No arrests have been made at this stage, but the courts have not ruled out possible criminal proceedings if responsibilities are established. The Santa Fe County Sheriff, who is overseeing the investigation, said “there was some sloppiness on this set.” For his part, Alec Baldwin, also producer of the western, claims not to have pressed the trigger of the revolver he had in his hand when the shot went off. Although very saddened by the death of Halyna Hutchins, he said he does not feel guilty or even “responsible” for her death.
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