Alec Baldwin charged in fatal ‘Rust’ set shooting

By Josh Campbell | CNN

Actor and producer Alec Baldwin has been criminally charged in connection with the 2021 fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust,” the Santa Fe County, New Mexico, district attorney’s office told CNN Tuesday.

The charges against Baldwin and the set’s armorer, Hannah Guiterrez Reed, include two counts of involuntary manslaughter, the DA’s office said. Attorneys for both defendants previously insisted their respective clients are innocent.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN earlier this month she would charge Baldwin and the film’s armorer with involuntary manslaughter, accusing them of failing to perform safety procedures that could have prevented the accident that resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Hutchins was struck and killed by a live round of ammunition fired from a prop gun being held by Baldwin, who maintains he did not pull the gun’s trigger.

Director Joel Souza was also shot and injured.

Baldwin has maintained he was not aware the gun he fired during a rehearsal contained a live round. In a statement to CNN on Jan. 19, his attorney called the prosecutors’ decision “a terrible miscarriage of justice.”

“This decision distorts Halyna Hutchins’ tragic death and represents a terrible miscarriage of justice. Mr. Baldwin had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set,” Baldwin’s attorney Luke Nikas said in his statement.

“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds. We will fight these charges, and we will win.”

“We were expecting the charges but they’re absolutely wrong as to Hannah — we expect that she will be found not guilty by a jury and she did not commit manslaughter,” attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement to CNN earlier this month when the indictment was first released.

“She has been emotional about the tragedy but has committed no crime.”