A Timeline of the ‘Rust’ Shooting and Investigation

Tragedy Strikes (Oct. 21, 2021)

The day of the shooting, the cast and crew arrived at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, where filming was delayed after the camera crew quit over issues “involving payment and housing,” a warrant stated. Because of the staff issues, only one camera was available to do the filming.

According to the warrant, the movie’s assistant director Dave Halls picked up one of the prop guns that were laid out by Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the production’s armorer, and gave it to Baldwin once inside a church set. Halls then yelled “cold gun,” indicating that the prop didn’t have any live rounds in it.

Baldwin and Hutchins were rehearsing a scene where he cross draws his weapon and points it at the camera. The warrant stated that Souza was looking over Hutchins’ shoulder “when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop.”

Hutchins was transported by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, the sheriff’s department said. Souza was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and released shortly thereafter.

Hollywood Begins Calling for the Ban of Live Guns on Sets (Oct. 22, 2021)

The family members of Bruce Lee’s son, Brandon, who died on the set of The Crow in 1993 after being fatally wounded by a prop gun, were some of the first to speak out against having guns on set.

Many people in the industry followed suit, calling for the removal of real guns from sets, with ABC’s The Rookie announcing it would no longer use quarter or half loads. California Senator Dave Cortese said he planned to introduce legislation banning live ammunition and firearms from sets and theatrical productions in the state.

While some people supported banning weapons on sets, others argued that new regulations could be an overreaction to a devastating tragedy. At the time, a group of armorers and weapons masters led by Gary Truers released a statement claiming they were “aware of numerous violations … that occurred on this production.” They were among the group who believed the Rust tragedy was a result of incompetence, not the weapons themselves.

A few weeks later, a group of cinematographers released a letter in response, calling for the ban of guns and went a step further to vow they will no longer “knowingly work on projects using FUNCTIONAL FIREARMS for filming purposes.” The letter continued, “We won’t sit back and wait for the industry to change. We have a duty to effect change within the industry ourselves.”

‘Rust’ Shuts Down Production Until the Police Investigation Is Completed (Oct. 25, 2021)

Four days after the fatal shooting of Hutchins, Rust’s producers sent out a letter to the crew announcing that they would be pausing production for the foreseeable future but had not ruled out restarting at a later date. “As we go through this crisis, we have made the decision to wrap the set at least until the investigations are complete,” the producers said in the letter. In it, they mourned the loss of Hutchins and said that Souza was recovering.

Crewmembers Come Forward With Complaints That Indicate an Inexperienced Producing Team May Have Been to Blame (Oct. 25-26, 2021)

Shortly after the shooting, THR learned that Halls, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the prop gun and yelled “cold gun,” had been fired from a previous indie film following another prop gun discharge. A producer on Freedom’s Path said that during production in 2019, “a crewmember incurred a minor and temporary injury when a gun was unexpectedly discharged.” After the incident, Halls “was removed from set.”

A number of Rust crewmembers, at the time, told THR they were specifically frustrated with producers. “What’s most shocking here is that there wasn’t a real producer to be found on this film,” a veteran producer said. “When you’re a producer, you’ve gotta vet anyone you haven’t worked with previously and pounce when there’s a problem.” They cited a red flag where, prior to the fatal shooting, there seemed to be a previous complaint about an accidental weapons discharge that went unaddressed. Several crewmembers also walked off set over unsafe conditions, and Gutierrez Reed, the film’s armorer, only had one other such credit under her belt.

Three Guns, 500 Rounds of Ammunition Recovered From Set (Oct. 27, 2021)

Early in the investigation, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adam Mendoza revealed that he had recovered three guns and 500 rounds of ammo from the Western’s set as well as “a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what we are suspecting [are] live rounds.”

During that same news conference, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said there was a possibility of criminal charges. “If the facts and evidence and law support charges, then I will initiate prosecution at that time,” Carmack-Altwies said. “I do not make rash decisions and cannot rush to judgment.”

Alec Baldwin Calls for Hollywood to Employ Police Officers on Sets (Nov. 8, 2021)

Baldwin took to social media on Nov. 8 to say that every set should have a police officer, hired by the production, to monitor weapon safety. His call for police to be present on sets came a few months after a group of activists had renewed their demands for studios to stop hiring police, in wake of George Floyd’s killing.

The actor and Rust producer had previously posted about the tragedy on his social platforms, expressing his “shock and sadness” and assuring his followers he was cooperating with the investigation. He had also reposted a statement from the Western’s costume designer, Terese Magpale Davis, who denied reports of unsafe working conditions on the set. A month later, more cast and crewmembers responded to the “public narrative” about the set’s unsafe environment, disputing claims that it was “chaotic” and “dangerous.”

‘Rust’ Script Supervisor Mamie Mitchell Sues Alec Baldwin and Producers (Nov. 18, 2021)

Mamie Mitchell sued Baldwin and his fellow producers after the fatal shooting. In the complaint, she alleged she was injured by the gun when it fired. She also claimed assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and deliberate infliction of harm. However, most notably, Mitchell said the script didn’t call for any gun to be discharged and blamed Baldwin for not checking it.

“He had no right to rely upon some alleged statement by the assistant director that it was a ‘cold gun,’” the complaint continued. “Mr. Baldwin cannot hide behind the assistant director to attempt to excuse the fact that he did not check the gun himself.”

(Baldwin and the Rust producers later moved to dismiss the suit, on Jan. 25, 2022, claiming immunity and arguing that Mitchell should be pursuing workers’ compensation in New Mexico instead of a civil suit in California.)

How Live Ammo May Have Ended Up on Set (Nov. 30, 2021)

A search warrant affidavit filed for a prop shop gave the sheriff’s department an idea of how the live ammo may have made its way to the set. In it, a detective wrote that the film’s ammo was purchased from Seth Kenney of PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC. In an interview, Gutierrez Reed’s father and longtime armorer Thell Reed informed the detective that he had recently worked with Kenney on another project in which they needed live ammo.

According to the affidavit, Thell told the detective that after production wrapped on that project, Kenney took the can of live ammo, therefore indicating that the ammo from his prior production could potentially match the one that was found on the Rust set. Kenney later denied that the live rounds on the set came from his company.

(Later, on Jan. 12, 2022, Gutierrez Reed sued Kenney and accused him of distributing “boxes of ammunition purporting to contain dummy rounds but which contained a mix of dummy and live ammunition.”)

Alec Baldwin Gives His First Sit-Down Interview Since the Shooting (Dec. 1, 2021)

In his first interview, an emotional Baldwin detailed what happened on the day of the tragedy and broke down in tears while remembering Hutchins. “The gun wasn’t meant to be fired,” he said of rehearsing with the DP. “I am holding the gun where I was told to hold it, which was right below her armpit.” When she told him to begin cocking the hammer for a particular shot, he said he did without cocking the gun itself. He said he let go of the hammer “and bang, the gun goes off.”

Baldwin continued, “Everyone was shocked. … The gun was supposed to be empty. I was told I was handed an empty gun. She goes down, I thought to myself, ‘did she faint?’” The actor and producer went on to say that he expects Hutchins’ husband to file a lawsuit over his wife’s death and how Baldwin can’t feel responsible because if he did, he “might have killed himself.” A few days later, Baldwin deleted one of his Twitter accounts and made his first public appearance at an awards gala in New York City.

Alec Baldwin Turns His Phone Over to the Authorities (Jan. 14, 2022)

Throughout the investigation, Baldwin has expressed that he has been cooperating every step of the way, despite any reports suggesting otherwise. “Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that’s bullshit, that’s a lie,” he said in a Jan. 8 video.

On Jan. 14, he relinquished his phone to Santa Fe authorities, nearly one month after they had requested it. At the time, the sheriff’s office was notified that the district attorney’s office was in negotiations with Baldwin’s lawyer, Aaron Dyer, to “obtain consent to retrieve” the phone and its contents and communications. “We requested that the authorities obtain a warrant so that we could protect his privacy on other matters unrelated to Rust and have been working through that process,” Dyer said.

Alec Baldwin Returns to Set Since the Shooting (Feb. 9, 2022)

Three and a half months after tragedy struck the Rust set, Baldwin returned to work for the first time. In a four-minute video, the actor described his experience being back on a set, calling it “strange.”

“We had our first day today, which is always … tricky,” he began. “I don’t work as much as I used to. I said this before maybe, but you go to work, and you forget what you’re supposed to do. I just was like, ‘What do you do? What is acting or any of this nonsense I ended up doing?’ It’s strange to go back to work.”

Baldwin went on to explain that he hadn’t been on a set since Oct. 21, which he still found difficult to talk about. He continued by saying independent films are often filled with talented but young crewmembers, who tend to be early in their careers.

Halyna Hutchins’ Family Sues for Wrongful Death (Feb. 15, 2022)

Almost four months after the tragic shooting, Hutchins’ family filed a wrongful death suit in New Mexico against Alec Baldwin and “others responsible for the safety on set and whose reckless behavior” led to her “senseless and tragic death.” Hutchins, who was 42 at the time of her death, is survived by her husband of 16 years, Matthew Hutchins, and their 9-year-old son. They’re suing for negligent, intentional, willful or reckless misconduct resulting in wrongful death and loss of consortium, and are seeking compensatory and punitive damages in an amount to be determined at trial.

“Had they been followed, this never would have happened,” attorney Brian Panish said during a press conference. “There were many people culpable,” adding that Baldwin holds a greater share of liability because he was the one holding the weapon. The other defendants the producers, armorer, props master, armorer assistant, assistant director and executive producers, among others.

A New Mexico Safety Agency Rules Firearm Safety Procedures Weren’t Being Followed On Set (April 20, 2022)

The New Mexico Environment Department’s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau had been investigating the Rust set since the tragic, fatal shooting. The agency concluded its investigation and found that there were numerous violations of safety protocols — from the introduction of live ammunition to a failure to train the crew on how to properly handle firearms.

As a result of the producers’ “plain indifference” to the welfare of cast and crew, the OHSB issued the highest level citation and maximum fine allowable by state law of $136,793.

The report also found that the production on Rust ignored “the hazards associated with firearms by routinely failing to practice their own safety protocols, failing to enforce adherence to safety protocols, and failing to ensure that the handling of deadly weapons was afforded the time and effort needed to keep the cast and crew safe.”

On May 10, the producers of Rust announced they’d be appealing the agency’s finding that they knew that firearm safety procedures weren’t being followed on set and demonstrated a “plain indifference” to the welfare of cast and crew.

Hutchins’ Family Settles Wrongful Death Suit (Oct. 5, 2022)

A year after Hutchins’ death, her family settled a wrongful death suit with the production. The plan from the settlement called for shooting to resume in January 2023, with her husband, Matthew Hutchins, coming on board as an executive producer.

“I have no interest in engaging in recriminations or attribution of blame (to the producers or Mr. Baldwin),” Hutchins said in a statement at the time. “All of us believe Halyna’s death was a terrible accident. I am grateful that the producers and the entertainment community have come together to pay tribute to Halyna’s final work.”   

Under the deal, the filming of Rust would continue with “all the original principal players on board.”

“Throughout this difficult process, everyone has maintained the specific desire to do what is best for Halyna’s son,” said Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas. “We are grateful to everyone who contributed to the resolution of this tragic and painful situation.”

Added Rust Movie Productions, through its attorney Melina Spadone: “We are pleased the parties came together to resolve this matter, which, subject to court approval, marks an important step forward in celebrating Halyna’s life and honoring her work.”  

Additional terms of the settlement weren’t disclosed.

Santa Fe County Prosecutors Announce Baldwin and Other Crew Will Be Charged in Hutchins’ Death (Jan. 19, 2023)

Mary Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney who serves Santa Fe County, announced that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be charged with two counts each of involuntary manslaughter.

Assistant director David Halls also signed a plea agreement for the charge of of negligent use of a deadly weapon. The terms include a suspended sentence and six months of probation. No charges are being filed in connection with Souza’s injury.

“After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of the state of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to file criminal charges against Alec Baldwin and other members of the ‘Rust’ film crew,” Carmack-Altwies said in a statement. “On my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice.”

Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed will be “charged in the alternative” with the two counts of manslaughter, meaning that a jury will decide not only if they are guilty but under which definition of involuntary manslaughter they are guilty, according to the DA’s announcement.

For involuntary manslaughter to be proved, there must be negligence. Under New Mexico law, involuntary manslaughter is a fourth-degree felony and is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 fine. It includes a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a firearm.

“If any one of these three people — Alec Baldwin, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed or David Halls — had done their job, Halyna Hutchins would be alive today. It’s that simple,” said special prosecutor Andrea Reeb in a statement Thursday. “The evidence clearly shows a pattern of criminal disregard for safety on the ‘Rust’ film set. In New Mexico, there is no room for film sets that don’t take our state’s commitment to gun safety and public safety seriously.” — Winston Cho

Manslaughter Charges Against Baldwin to Be Dropped (April 20, 2023)

The two counts of manslaughter Baldwin was facing in the death of Hutchins will be dropped, his lawyers say. “We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin, and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” said attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro in a statement. However, prosecutors could refile charges against the actor after their own assessment if they see fit.