The armorer who handled weapons on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust, reportedly received numerous complaints on prior productions and once prompted Nicolas Cage to storm off set, the Wrap reports.
Sources who have previously worked with 24-year-old armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told the outlet that she received a number of complaints on different sets prior to the accident on the set of Rust that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Of particular note, key grip Stu Brumbaugh said that Gutierrez-Reed infuriated crew members and Nicolas Cage on the set of The Old Way, which shot in Montana over the summer.
The armorer allegedly failed to follow basic firearm safety protocols, including the announcement of weapon usage on set. During one particular incident, Brumbaugh said that Cage yelled at her for failing to announce the usage of a weapon for the second time in three days. “Make an announcement, you just blew my fucking eardrums out!” Cage reportedly said before walking off set. Brumbaugh said that after the incident, he told the assistant director that Gutierrez-Reed “needs to be let go.”
“After the second round I was pissed off. We were moving too fast. She’s a rookie,” he added.
After complaining with the production team, he was informed that the movie was her first as an on-set armorer. In a statement provided to the Wrap, a producer on The Old Way denied the incident with Nicolas Cage. “I have no such recollection of this event on our set,” said the producer. “The details on some of these accounts specifically when it pertains to The Old Way have been blown out of proportion.”
Despite this statement, one other person familiar with the production of The Old Way said Gutierrez-Reed “put the cast and crew in several unnecessary and dangerous situations.” Brumbaugh added that the young armorer, who is the daughter of weapons expert Thell Reed, had allegedly walked onto set with live rounds of blanks and did not announce the arrival of weapons when doing so. She had also tucked handguns under her armpits, and carried rifles in each hand.
These claims arrive just as TMZ reported that Gutierrez-Reed was connected with the death of her friend Tyler Dyer last year. Dyer was killed in a motorcycle crash in August 2020, and she admitted to police she had seen Dyer drink between four to five beers prior to the crash. The same incident also involved her boyfriend Aaron Butcher, who she said also had consumed a similar amount of alcohol. At the time, he was on probation for a DUI, and was only allowed to drive vehicles that require the use of a breathalyzer to start the ignition.
Gutierrez-Reed gave the keys to her bike to Butcher before the crash, since her vehicle did not require the use of a breathalyzer. Police said that Dyer crashed into a wall at a high speed, while Butcher crashed and survived. He was arrested for an aggravated DUI, and since he crashed her bike her insurance company paid $50,000 to Dyer’s parents to prevent them from suing her.
The Santa Fe County district attorney is currently investigating the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins, who was killed after Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun that he was told was a “cold gun.” In a statement shared recently, Hutchins’ father said that he doesn’t blame the actor for her death, and that the blame should be placed on “the props people who handle the guns.”
