The world is learning more about a tragic shooting on the set of the Western Rust, in which star Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm, accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. (The film’s reps have confirmed that Souza has been released from a New Mexico hospital.) According to reporting by the Los Angeles Times’ Meg James, safety concerns plagued the production in the days leading up to this incident.
Thursday’s shooting is still under investigation, but the Times reports that the prop gun misfired three times prior to the incident that killed Hutchins, twice on Saturday and once the previous week, according to a knowledgeable production source. The source told the outlet that “there was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set.”
The day of the shooting, sources told the Times, half a dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest their working conditions. Sources claim that crew members were ensured hotel rooms in Santa Fe, near the film’s shoot, to be paid for by production. Instead, once production began, crew members were obligated to drive 50 miles from Albuquerque daily. One crew member told the Times that Hutchins herself “had been advocating for safer conditions for her team” in the lead-up to her tragic death.
In a statement provided to the Times, Rust Movie Productions LLC said, “The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company. 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.”
According to an email that Local 44 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees sent to its members on Friday, cited by the Times, the prop gun Baldwin fired contained “a live single round.” The email reportedly read, “As many of us have already heard, there was an accidental weapons discharge on a production titled Rust being filmed in New Mexico.… A live single round was accidentally fired on set by the principal actor, hitting both the Director of Photography, Local 600 member Halyna Hutchins, and Director Joel Souza. Both were rushed to the hospital.” A source close to the union told the Times that Local 44 (which represents prop masters) doesn’t know what type of projectile was in the gun, explaining that the term “live” references a gun that’s loaded with a material such as a blank. When asked about the “live round,” sheriff’s department spokesperson Juan R. Rios told Vanity Fair, “No conclusion has been made regarding this matter. We can neither confirm or deny this information at this time.”
Investigators previously confirmed in a statement to Vanity Fair that “Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set of the Western Rust, October 21, 2021, when an 911 caller reported a shooting on the set.” Rios had told V.F. that “Mr. Baldwin met with investigators and provided a statement and answered their questions. He then left our agency. No charges have been filed and no arrests have been made.” Baldwin’s reps did not respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
On the day of Thursday’s shooting, the Times writes, crew members reportedly arrived on set at 6:30 a.m. and started gathering their belongings. During this time, several nonunion crew members came to the set “to replace” the original members, the person with knowledge of the situation told the Times. Then an employee on the producer staff reportedly required the union members to exit the set, threatening to call security should they not leave on their own.
The knowledgeable source told the Times, “Corners were being cut—and they brought in nonunion people so they could continue shooting.” The union crew members reportedly left the set about six hours before the shooting that took Hutchins’ life.
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