Alec Baldwin shooting – ‘Loaded gun’ given to star ‘handled by replacement staffer after walkout over safety concerns’
A LOADED gun which was given to Alec Baldwin had been reportedly handled by a replacement staff following a mass walkout over safety concerns.
The unidentified employee was hired to replace someone else amid chaos on the set, according to a source.
Another source told a crew of workers had walked off the film’s set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday morning what they alleged were poor safety protocols.
Baldwin, 68, fired the gun later that day and fatally shot the director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, in the chest and injured director Joel Souza, 48, injured.
The gun that killed filmmaker Halyna Hutchins was a vintage Colt pistol, reports
The prop gun also misfired twice on Saturday and once during the previous week, the .
And 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.”
The LA Times that Hutchins had been advocating for safer working conditions for her team.
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A half-dozen camera crew workers were said to have gone on strike on Thursday over working conditions.
Safety concerns had been raised about the New Mexico location, .
At least one incident involved a prop weapon misfiring, one source told the outlet.
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"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, 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."
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.
Alec 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.
