Alec Baldwin shooting – Rust assistant director Dave Halls has record of ‘unsafe practices & nonexistent’ safety on set

THE assistant director on Rust, Dave Halls, had a record of “unsafe practices” on set, a prop maker has claimed.

Maggie Goll, who worked on Hulu’s Into the Dark anthology series in February 2019, said Halls “did not maintain a safe working environment”.

Goll, in a statement to said that Halls “at first he seemed like an older, affable first [assistant director] with the usual run of idiosyncrasies, but that facade soon disappeared”.

“Sets were almost always allowed to become increasingly claustrophobic, no established fire lanes, exits blocked … safety meetings were non-existent,” she added.

Halls handed the prop gun to Baldwin, 63, before the actor fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, at the Bonanza Ranch, New Mexico, indicating the weapon didn’t carry live rounds by showing “cold gun,” according to court records.

Goll, an experienced special effects technician and pyrotechnican claimed in one instance Halls had attempted to keep filming after the lead pyrotechnician had suffered a medical emergency and the set had become unsafe.

“There is absolutely no reason that gun safety should be ignored on set, even when it is a non-firing prop firearm,” Goll said.

“The only reason the crew was made aware of a weapon’s presence was because the assistant prop master demanded Dave acknowledge and announce the situation each day,” she said.

“The anthology series was a ‘side letter’ agreement … that allowed for lesser working conditions, no true jurisdiction over covered union work, aka non-preferential hiring and what amounts to poverty wages for the crew,” she added.

A spokesperson for Blumhouse Television, the producers behind Into the Dark, said in a statement to NBC News that they couldn’t comment “on personnel matters”.

The gun Baldwin used which was supposed to contain blanks had misfired before on the New Mexico set, reports have said, which caused a number of crew members to walk off set just hours before the fatal shooting of Hutchins.

Rust Movies Productions said it was not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set.

Read our Alec Baldwin shooting live blog for the very latest news and updates…

Investigators have not said whether or not the gun held blanks.

The gun Baldwin fired in the fatal shooting on the Rust movie set was handed to the actor loaded with a live round, according to a warrant from the ongoing police investigation.

The warrant says that an assistant director handed the gun to the actor and told him that it was “cold” before he fired it, fatally striking cinematographer Halyna and injuring director Joel Souza on Thursday.

The warrant, obtained by the Associated Press, also says that the assistant director was not aware that the gun was loaded.

The gun that was fired was one of three laid on a cart by the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

Halls grabbed the gun from the cart, believing it was unloaded, and brought it inside to Baldwin, who was filming a scene, the warrant says.

It’s not clear at this time how many rounds were fired.

Baldwin, who was also the producer of Rust, said in a statement: “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.

“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family.

“My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”

No one has been arrested or charged with the shooting and the investigation is ongoing.