'COLD GUN!'
Blood-stained Alec Baldwin shot loaded gun handed to him by assistant director who declared it safe, affidavit 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.
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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.
Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart, believing it was unloaded, and brought it inside to Alec, who was filming a scene, the warrant says.
It's not clear at this time how many rounds were fired.
Gutierrez-Reed, 24, is reportedly the daughter of longtime film industry armorer, Thell Reed. She said in a recent podcast interview that she had trained from a young age.
She also said that she had only recently completed her first job as a head armorer on a film called The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage - and initially worried she may not be ";ready" for the position, but added that it went "smoothly".
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Halls has been in the business for decades, working as an assistant director on major productions like Fargo, The Matrix Reloaded, and Reno 911.
In a chilling twist, it emerged that Halls worked on the 2000 film The Crow: Salvation, the sequel to The Crow, which suffered its own infamous on-set tragedy when star Brandon Lee - the son of Bruce Lee - was shot dead.
He worked as a first assistant director for the second unit.
Read our Alec Baldwin shooting live blog for the very latest news and updates...
Rust's script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, said she was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.
"I ran out and called 911 and said bring everybody, send everybody," she told the AP. "This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary, rare, very rare woman."
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.
SAFETY COMPLAINTS
According to the accounts of people familiar with the set, Thursday's deadly accident was not the first time there were safety issues at the New Mexico film location, .
At least one previous incident involved a prop weapon misfiring, one source told the outlet.
"A gun had two misfires in a closed cabin," the source said. "They just fired loud pops - a person was just holding it in their hands and it went off."
Hours before Thursday's fatal accident, seven of the film's camera crew also reportedly stormed off the set because of safety concerns.
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."
An unnamed prop master who oversaw the gun used in the shooting was a non-union employee who was "just brought in" to replace workers who left, a source .
It's unclear at this time if Gutierrez-Reed was a recent addition to the production.
However, a link on her Instagram profile leads to an article about Rust that was published in May, suggesting she may have been part of the team early on.
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 previous 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 and the staff member who handled the prop guns on the film's set were interviewed by police and released on Thursday.
BALDWIN 'HEARTBROKEN'
Alec, 63, issued a statement after the incident mourning Halyna, 42, and confirming that he was cooperating with the police investigation.
"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," he wrote.
"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."
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.
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One picture shows him distressed while chatting on the phone while another snapped him close to the curb with his hands on his knees.
The accident happened at around 1:50 pm local time on Thursday.
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