New legal twist in deadly movie set shooting case

Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit against an armorer and three other crew members over the deadly shooting on the set of the Western movie Rust, which claimed the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin’s suit was filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court as a cross-complaint stemming from a previous suit in which a different member of the crew named Baldwin and the others as defendants.

It is one of many pieces of litigation stemming from the October 21, 2021 tragedy which is also under criminal investigation and could result in New Mexico state charges.

Baldwin’s cross-complaint names armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, first assistant director Dave Halls, prop supplier Seth Kenney and prop master Sarah Zachry.

Lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed, Halls and Kenney did not immediately respond to requests for statements in their clients’ defence.

Reuters could not locate a lawyer for Zachry.

All four were also named as defendants along with Baldwin in the original lawsuit filed by a script supervisor who claimed the shooting caused her severe emotional distress.

Baldwin’s cross-complaint alleges negligence and seeks damages to be determined at trial for the “immense grief” he endures.

“This tragedy happened because live bullets were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to check the bullets or the gun carefully, Halls failed to check the gun carefully and yet announced the gun was safe before handing it to Baldwin, and Zachry failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed had been acting recklessly off set and was a safety risk to those around her,” Baldwin’s cross-complaint said.

Hutchins was killed when a revolver Baldwin was rehearsing with during filming in New Mexico fired a live round that hit her and movie director Joel Souza, who survived.

In a television interview, the actor said he did not pull the trigger of the Colt .45 revolver and it fired after he cocked it.

An FBI forensic test of the single-action revolver found it “functioned normally” and would not fire without the trigger being pulled.