Alec Baldwin shooting news – Tributes to Halyna Hutchins after gun accident as Rust armorer deletes Twitter and Facebook
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THE armorer who handled the gun before the accidental fatal shooting has shut down her social media accounts, and sources say she did so based on legal advice.
Director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was critically injured by the prop gun that an assistant director said was safe to use. The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, handled the "loaded gun" before the fatal incident.
The gun – reportedly a vintage Colt pistol – was being used by crew members off-set during a "target practice" with real bullets, multiple .
Meanwhile, it was reported the incident at Bonanza Creek ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, occurred during a scene where Baldwin was filming a mock gunfight in the church on-set.
The Colt pistol was apparently one of many weapons on set and had been used in a previous scene without incident.
Read our Alec Baldwin live blog for the latest news and updates...
ALEC'S WIFE HILARIA LEAVES NYC AFTER SHOOTING
Baldwin's wife Hilaria fled their New York home with their six children and pets after he "accidentally shot and killed" a crew member on the set of his movie Rust.
The couple's female friend was spotted carrying their kids from their Manhattan apartment into a waiting SUV on Friday.
She carried several of Alec and Hilaria's children into the vehicle, with the youngsters concealing their identity by wrapping their arms and legs around her and burying their face in her shoulder.
A source told The Sun that yoga instructor Hilaria, 36, left New York earlier on Friday morning.
'COLD GUN!'
The gun Alec 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 safe to use before he fired it, fatally striking cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza on Thursday.
WHO IS HALYNA HUTCHINS' HUSBAND?
Halyna and her husband, Matthew, had been married for 16 years. They have a nine-year old son, Andros.
Matthew is an attorney with the Los Angeles firm, Latham & Watkins. According to his LinkedIn page, he graduated from Harvard Law School and received his undergraduate degree from the University of Southern California.
Matthew told the Insider, "I don't think there are words to communicate the situation. I am not going to be able to comment about the facts or the process of what we're going through right now, but I appreciate that everyone has been very sympathetic."
HALYNA’S BACKGROUND
Halyna had written that she grew up on a Russian military base “surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines” and her father was reported to be a former member of the Soviet navy.
She spoke English and Russian, graduated from Kiev University in journalism and often found work as a BBC documentary producer.
UKRAINE'S FOREIGN MINISTRY DEMANDS AN INVESTIGATION
Ukraine's foreign ministry has asked diplomats in San Francisco to urgently investigate the circumstances of her death.
A spokesman said: “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine confirms that Ms Halyna Hutchins, who was killed during the process of filming on the territory of the USA, has Ukrainian citizenship.
“The Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco has been asked to clarify the circumstances and is co-operating with American law enforcement representatives.
“The Consulate also establishes contacts with relatives in order to provide the necessary assistance.”
Halyna grew up in Kiev.
OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH &SAFETY BUREAU INVESTIGATION
A representative of the OHSB exclusively told The Sun: "On Thursday evening, the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau (OHSB) learned through the New Mexico Film Office of a workplace fatality and an injury to a second person that occurred during filming on a movie set in Santa Fe County.
"The production company reported the fatality and injury to OHSB last night, in accordance with workplace safety laws."
"OHSB is investigating the incident in coordination with law enforcement, the employer, and employees. No additional information will be released at this time, pending completion of the investigation," the statement concluded.
FANS VOICING SUPPORT
Some fans of Alec Baldwin have taken to social media to send a message of support to the actor after the tragic shooting in the set of the film Rust.
'SOMEONE WILL HAVE TO PAY'
A pal of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in Kiev, Ukraine, where she grew up said: “The family is grieving but at the same time they are asking and they will want answers. If someone made a mistake then they will have to pay.
“They just don’t understand how something dreadful like this could have happened when safety measures are supposed to be in place.
“They are also frantically trying to secure documents to get to the United States. Her mother does not have the correct paperwork.”
HAVE CHARGES BEEN FILED?
Santa Fe County Sheriff Juan Rios confirmed to The Sun that no charges have been filed yet relating to the incident.
However, he said the investigation remains ongoing as witnesses are interviewed.
WHAT HAPPENED ON THE SET OF THE CROW?
On the set of the 1993 film The Crow, actor Brandon Lee was tragically killed in a similar gun mishap.
Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died at age of 28 after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie.
In that incident, a prop gun that was supposed to fire a blank let off a live round, killing the actor.
RUST PRODUCTIONS ANNOUNCE INTERNAL REVIEW
In a statement to Deadline, Rust Movie Productions, LLC, said that an internal investigation into Thursday's shooting was underway, and they were not made aware of additional safety concerns.
"The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company," the statement said.
"Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down.
"We will continue to cooperate with the Santa Fe authorities in their investigation and offer mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time."
Both Alec and the staff member who handled the prop guns on the film's set were interviewed by police and released on Thursday.
'IT'S HAVING YOUR WHOLE WORLD FLIP UPSIDE DOWN'
Brandon Lee's sister, Shannon, said her family is heartbroken and supports banning real guns from sets following another accidental shooting from what was supposed to be a prop gun.
"I think we wish we had thought to do more 28 years ago, and we would love to do that now," said Shannon about her brother's death while talking to .
Lee said she feels for the family of Halyna Hutchins.
"It’s having your whole world flip upside down," she recalled.
"There should be compassion for all the pain everyone is going through.”
HOLLYWOOD’S REACTION
Mourners have expressed their condolences and paid glowing tributes to Halyna Hutchins after she died on the set of the film Rust.
Hollywood actor Dwayne Johnson said: “I am so so sorry. Rest easy. My love and strength to your family.”
Director and producer James Cullen Bressack also took to the comments section, penning: “I will miss you my friend… This is devastating.”
British TV producer Richard Denton said: “Halyna was the most wonderful, vital, lively and positive person to work with.
“She was friendly and enormously helpful. She was completely unpretentious and incredibly professional.”
Adam Mortimer told Good Morning Britain: “She was somebody who was absolutely dedicated to art and integrity.
WHAT THE WARRANT SAYS, CONTINUED
Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart, believing it was unloaded, and brought it inside to Alec, the warrant says.
It’s not clear at this time how many rounds were fired.
Gutierrez-Reed, 24, said in a recent podcast interview that she had trained from a young age. She also said that she had recently completed her first job as a head armorer on a film called The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage.
Halls has been in the business for decades, working as an assistant director on major productions like Fargo, The Matrix Reloaded, and Reno 911.
The gun that went off and other prop guns and ammunition were taken in as evidence, as well as Alec’s blood-stained costume, the warrant says.
WHAT THE WARRANT SAYS
The gun Alec 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 Hutchins 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.
WHAT DID ARMORER ON RUST SET DO ON LAST MOVIE?
The armorer on Alec Baldwin's Rust set halted filming on the last movie after an "inexperienced 24-year-old gave a gun to a child on set."
Two production sources revealed that filming on set of her last movie was briefly stopped after she allegedly gave a gun to an 11-year-old without checking it properly.
“She was a bit careless with the guns, waving it around every now and again,” one source told
The source, who worked alongside Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on the upcoming Nicolas Cage film, The Old Way, continued: "There were a couple times she was loading the blanks and doing it in a fashion that we thought was unsafe.”
'NO WORDS'
In a statement, Alec Baldwin said: "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."
ALEC WAS 'INCONSOLABLE FOR HOURS' AFTER FATAL SHOOTING
The actor, 63, is looking "to take some time to himself and re-center himself" after Halyna Hutchins was killed, and Joel Souza was critically injured by the prop gun.
"This was pretty devastating," a source told PEOPLE.
"This is how he handles difficult times. Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from [the] public eye."
They added that Baldwin was "hysterical and absolutely inconsolable for hours" following the shooting.
"Everyone knows this was an accident, but he's absolutely devastated," they continued.
HALYNA’S FRIEND POSTS TRIBUTE: ‘YOU DESERVE TO BE HERE’
A close friend of Halyna’s, writer and director Li Lu, posted a tribute on Instagram.
Lu claims the cinematographer previously hit out at producers on recent projects for acting “selfishly and dangerously.”
In a moving post, she wrote: “Halyna, you were one of the hardest working people that I have ever met.
“You loved cinema – completely and utterly. You were a friend and colleague. You were a great mom.
“The last time we spoke, you lamented how producers on recent projects acted selfishly and dangerously. How people who finance films thought their money could be traded for the decency, safety, and honor of all else on set.
“How often we tell ourselves to ‘buck up.’ Because we are tough. Because as women, we gotta show we can take it. Because we must sacrifice, to achieve our dreams.
“It’s not f***ing worth it. You deserve to be here. With your family.”
QUIZZED BY COPS
Alec Baldwin was quizzed by cops following the accident and was snapped sobbing outside a local police station in Santa Fe, , according to local media reports.
One picture shows him distressed while chatting on the phone while another snapped him close to the curb with his hands on his knees.
STAFF ‘WOULDN’T GO BACK’ TO THE ‘CURSED’ RUST SET
An on-set source also told The Sun they felt movie makers were “cutting corners to save a buck” after it was revealed several camera crew workers walked off to protest working conditions hours before the tragedy.
They said: “I wouldn’t go back to the set if I was asked, it’s cursed.”
Camera operators and their assistants were frustrated by issues like long hours and pay, according to a number of outlets.
Someone from the production staff ordered union members to leave the set and said if they didn’t leave, the producers would call security and they would be removed.
PRIVATE FACEBOOK GROUP FORESHADOWED TRAGEDY
Hours before Thursday’s fatal accident, where Hutchins was killed and the film’s director Joel Souza was injured, seven of the film’s camera crew stormed off the set.
One member of the crew wrote about the issues on a private Facebook group, according to Deadline.
“We cited everything from lack of payment for three weeks, taking our hotels away despite asking for them in our deals, lack of Covid safety, and on top of that, poor gun safety!” the post said.
“Poor on-set safety period!”
The staff member alleged that “they brought in four non-union guys to replace us and tried calling the cops on us.”
911 CALL REVEALS MOMENTS AFTER THE SHOOTING
A 911 recording , a woman who identifies herself as the movie’s script supervisor is heard blaming the accident on someone whose name is apparently bleeped out.
She said: “This motherf***ker. He’s supposed to check the guns. He’s responsible for what happened.”
CO-STAR SYMPATHIZES WITH ALEC BALDWIN
Ashton, who's had a small role in Breaking Bad, said when he got to the New Mexico set it was closed off due to the accident.
“It’s basically, it’s a terrible shame, I wish precautions would’ve been taken so that it didn’t happen," he told the . "But I don’t know what exactly did happen, the sheriff will tell, you know, so I can’t say, so I haven’t really thought about it all that much because I don’t have much to go on.”
The actor believed that many of his fellow co-stars and crew will need to speak with counselors after the tragedy.
He also sympathized with Baldwin, who was seen talking on his cell phone and crying outside of the Santa Fe Sherriff's Office after the accident.
“He must be in terrible shape for having that happen to him, I feel bad for him and I’m sure he’s in misery over it … I would expect he would be,” he said. “He’s going to take a while to get settled, anybody would.”
HALYNA HUTCHIN'S LAST POSTS
She was excited to be working on the film Rust, with Alec Baldwin.