The first lawsuit has been filed in connection with the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin movie Rust.
Per Deadline, Rust gaffer Serge Svetnoy filed his suit this week against Alec Baldwin, the film’s producers, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and first assistant director David Halls. The gaffer is seeking unspecified damages.
“This incident was caused by the negligent acts and omission of Defendants, and each of them, as well as their agents, principals, and employers,” reads the complaint of general negligence. “Simply put, there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver to be present anywhere on the Rust set, and the presence of a bullet in a revolver posed a lethal threat to everyone in its vicinity.”
The complaint accuses the parties named in the suit of violating “relevant and prevailing industry standards,” and accuses the defendants of failing “to act with reasonable care.”
The suit was filed in connection with the Oct. 21 incident, which saw Baldwin discharge a prop gun in the direction of Hutchins and the film’s director, Joel Souza. Hutchins was killed, while Souza was treated for his injuries at a nearby hospital. According to the Santa Fe police department, Baldwin was allegedly not made aware the gun contained any live rounds.
In a post he shared on Facebook last month, Svetnoy detailed his account of the incident and wrote that “the person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this; the person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; the person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it.”
First assistant director David Halls previously admitted in talks with police that he didn’t adequately check the prop gun before he declared it a “cold gun,” which he said just moments before he passed it to Baldwin. Halls and armorer Gutierrez Reed have both released statements in which they decried the lack of safety precautions on the set of Rust. Alec Baldwin, meanwhile, has suggested that the alleged “unsafe, chaotic conditions are bullshit.”
