A chilling video simulation shows cinematographer Halyna Hutchins fatally shot by actor Alec Baldwin on the doomed set of his film Rust – as he faces involuntary manslaughter charges.
Created by the Hutchins family and representatives as part of a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and other crew members, the CGI animation details how they believe Baldwin pulled the trigger of a .45 Colt and killed Hutchins.
It was announced today that Baldwin and 25-year-old Rust Quartermaster Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have been charged with involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchin’s death.
The Hutchins family’s lawsuit alleged that “reckless behavior” and “cost-cutting” ultimately led to her death on October 21, 2021.
Baldwin has denied pulling the trigger and told investigators the assistant director told him it was a “cold gun,” meaning it was allegedly not loaded with live rounds.
He told investigators that he pulled the hammer back and when he released it, fired without pulling the trigger. The live round hit Hutchins in the chest, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
The video begins with an avatar of Baldwin in a church on the New Mexico set as assistant director David Halls hands him a Colt revolver.
He holsters the gun in his jacket and sits on a pew, hands on knees.
He stands in front of the camera and crew. Hutchins and Souza avatars are both looking at the camera.
Souza is partially behind the camera with Hutchins a little to the side.
The video then shows Baldwin quickly pulling the gun from the holster in his jacket and firing it towards the camera and crew.
The video begins with an avatar of Baldwin in a church on the New Mexico set as assistant director David Halls hands him a Colt revolver
Baldwin takes the gun from Hall and places the gun in a holster in his jacket
The actor then sits on a pew with his hands on his knees and faces the crew
The video captures the angle from Baldwin’s side, showing him facing the camera and crew
He aims the gun and pulls back the hammer as Hutchins teaches him positioning
Another angle shows the gun pointed at the crew with Hutchins at the side of the camera
Baldwin said he pulled the gavel back and posed for the camera with it while Hutchins coached him in positioning.
Baldwin gave an emotional interview to ABC’s George Stephanopoulos on December 2, in which he said: “She makes me position the gun — everything is her way. I draw the weapon to its marker. I don’t shoot at the camera lens, I just miss. in her direction. This was a completely accidental shot that may not have ended up in the film.’
Baldwin says he cocked the gun and spoke to Hutchins about how she looked on camera.
“I’m just showing. I say, ‘How about this? It works? Do you see that? Do you see that?’ And then she says, ‘Yes, that’s good.’
“I released the hammer, bang. The gun goes off. Everyone is horrified. You are shocked. It’s noisy. They don’t have their earplugs in.”
The video goes on to show the lap hitting Hutchins, who grabs her chest and collapses.
The video goes on to show the round hitting Hutchins in the chest with an explosion
Hutchins grabs her chest and begins to stagger before falling to the ground
Souza and another man rush over to help her put her on the ground
Souza and another man rush over to help her put her on the ground.
The clip also shows an “X-ray” view of how Halyna was hit by the bullet on the right side of her chest before exiting through her left side and then hitting Joel Souza who was standing behind her.
At the end of the video, a narrator breaks down the exact moment he believed Hutchins was shot and claims that the production team failed to implement safety standards on set.
The CGI animation showed a close-up of the differences between a live round and a dummy round. A hole is drilled through the dummy and the primer is removed.
Baldwin was rehearsing a scene with a gun that an assistant director told him was a “cold gun,” meaning it was allegedly not loaded with live rounds.
The actor said that he released it and fired it without pulling the trigger, and Baldwin added, “I didn’t pull the trigger.”
The CGI animation showed a close-up of the differences between a live round and a dummy round. A hole is drilled through the dummy and the primer is removed
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, who led the initial investigation into Hutchins’ death, described “a degree of neglect” on the film set.
However, he left decisions about possible criminal charges to prosecutors after he presented the results of a year-long investigation in October. This report did not specify how live ammunition ended up on the film set.
Carmack-Altwies took control of the investigation and received an emergency request for $300,000 to have the state pay for a special prosecutor, a special counsel, and other experts and staff.
Baldwin – known for his roles in 30 Rock and The Hunt for Red October and his impression of ex-President Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live – has called the Hutchins killing a “tragic accident”.
He has attempted to clear his name by suing people involved in handling and delivering the loaded gun that was handed to him on set. Baldwin, also co-producing Rust, said he was told the gun was safe.
In his lawsuit, Baldwin said that while he was working on camera angles during rehearsals for a scene with Hutchins, he pointed the gun in her direction and backed away, releasing the hammer of the gun, which discharged.
The New Mexico Medical Investigator’s Office, after completing an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports, determined the shooting to be an accident.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was accidentally shot by Baldwin on the set of a western
Alec Baldwin talks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in Santa Fe, New Mexico after being questioned about a shooting on the film’s set
The New Mexico Occupational Safety and Health Bureau imposed the maximum penalty on Rust Movie Productions based on a damning account of safety deficiencies, including testimonies that production executives took limited or no action to fix two on-set blank cartridge misfires prior to the fatal shot.
Rust Movie Productions continues to question the basis of a $137,000 fine from regulators who say on-set production executives failed to follow industry firearm safety protocols.
Gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who oversaw the firearms on set, was the subject of much investigation into the case, along with an independent ammunition supplier.
A lawyer for Gutierrez Reed said the gunsmith did not put a live cartridge in the gun that killed Hutchins and believes it was the victim of sabotage. Authorities said they found no evidence of this.
In this image from video released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, Alec Baldwin stands in costume and speaks to investigators after a fatal shooting on the film set last year
Baldwin and Hutchins on the set of Rust last year. He claims he never pulled the trigger
Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition on the film set on the outskirts of Santa Fe. Pictured: Bonanza Creek Ranch, where Baldwin shot Hutchins
Investigators initially found 500 rounds of ammunition on the film set on the outskirts of Santa Fe — a mix of blanks, dummy cartridges and what appeared to be live cartridges. Industry experts have said live rounds should never take place on set.
In April 2022, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department released a wealth of files, including lapel camera video of the mortally wounded Hutchins slipping into and out of consciousness upon the arrival of an evacuation helicopter. Witness interrogations, email threads, text conversations, ammo stashes, and hundreds of photos rounded out this collection of evidence.
State safety officials at the workplace said immediate gun safety concerns were addressed when Rust halted filming and that a return to filming in New Mexico would be accompanied by new safety inspections.
The Hutchins family — widower Matthew Hutchins and son Andros — have settled a lawsuit against producers as part of an agreement aimed at resuming filming with Matthew’s involvement as executive producer.
“Rust” was beset by controversy from the start in early October 2021. Seven crew members left the set just hours before the fatal shot amid disagreements over working conditions.
Hutchins’ death impacted negotiations on safety provisions in film crew union contracts with Hollywood producers, prompting other filmmakers to choose computer-generated images of gunshots rather than real guns with blanks to minimize risk.