In a photo, the last one in which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins appeared before a stray bullet from a gun held by American actor Alec Baldwin killed her, she is seen with her back to the camera inside a church last Thursday. She is wearing a knitted hat with headphones on, and in front of her is the film's lead actor, in a film titled "Rust," about two meters away from her.
When everyone went outside to rehearse a scene from the film, the lead actor found three guns placed on a cart by the weapons specialist Hannah Gutierrez outside the church. Assistant director Dave Hols approached and took out an old Pietta Long Colt .45 revolver, reassuring Baldwin upon handing it to him that it was safe. However, the gun, which was first manufactured in 1872 in the United States and used by the U.S. Army for ten years starting a year later, was not safe at all. As soon as the actor pulled the trigger, an unexpected tragedy unfolded: the bullet that fired was from live ammunition, not blank, killing Halyna Hutchins at the young age of 42. Film director Joel Souza was also injured in the shoulder but eventually recovered.
The complete photo shows the cinematographer with her back to the one shooting the scene, wearing a knitted hat and headphones. Investigators probing the fatal incident in Santa Fe County, New Mexico, indicated yesterday that it resulted from "some laxity" in applying safety regulations and that the weapons expert had handed the actor a gun loaded with live ammunition, accidentally killing the cinematographer. However, prosecutors ruled out filing criminal charges in the case, with Carmack-Altwies, the county district attorney, stating to journalists that "all options are on the table at this point" as long as investigations continue.
Criminal charges may be filed against the actor. According to state authorities, agencies reported that they have found nearly 600 pieces of evidence so far, including three firearms and 500 rounds of ammunition at the filming location. Some types of ammunition "constitute a mix of blanks, dummy rounds, and what we suspect to be live ammunition that requires laboratory analysis," as mentioned by the county sheriff, Adan Mendoza, adding that "a piece of a bullet" was recovered from the injured director's shoulder and has been submitted as evidence.
He also told journalists that there were up to 100 people backstage during the filming when the shooting occurred. He confirmed that two other individuals had handled the weapon before it was handed to Baldwin: weapons specialist Hannah Gutierrez and assistant director Dave Hols. He noted that more ammunition was in the gun and surprised everyone by stating that the district attorney did not rule out filing criminal charges against the actor.
