The armorer in charge of guns on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie Rust has broken her silence to say she has ‘no idea’ how live rounds made their way to the film set, and that she blames producers for creating an ‘unsafe’ environment.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, released a statement through her attorneys insisting she is not to blame for the death of Halyna Hutchins, the director of photography who was accidentally killed by Baldwin while they rehearsed a shooting scene.
‘Safety is Hannah’s number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from,’ the statement said.
Her attorneys added that she was doing ‘two positions’ which ‘made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer’. They didn’t say what the other job was.
‘She fought for training, days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is pictured last week (left). She has released a statement denying blame for the fatal accident last week and says she was overstretched on the set of Rust, working two jobs and unable to focus on gun safety. Baldwin, right, is in Vermont, bunkering down with his family while the investigation into the shooting continues
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was rushed to the hospital by air ambulance but could not be saved. Many on set have set assistant director Dave Halls ran unsafe productions. He has not spoken
Circled is Baldwin, left, standing next to Halyna on the film set. Gutierrez-Reed is shown far right. She claims in her statement that she has ‘no idea’ how live rounds found their way to the set
‘The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings,’ the statement said.
Her claims echo those of other crew member who say the production was unsafe. Most of them have blamed assistant director Dave Halls, who they said has been accused of running unsafe sets in the past.
Halls told sheriff’s deputies after the shooting that he asked Gutierrez-Reed to show him the gun before he handed it to Baldwin last Thursday.
Halls said that he can remember seeing three chambers in the gun that contained dummy bullets, recognizable by a small hole in the side that sets them apart from real bullets.
He looked at them, declared the gun ‘a cold’ weapon then handed it to Baldwin.
It was only after the shooting that he asked Gutierrez-Reed to look again inside the chamber. That is when they saw there were five rounds, four of which were dummies and one of which contained the spent casing of a real bullet.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwes said on Wednesday that ‘all options are on the table’ when it comes to charging people responsible for the accident
A portion of the interview between Halls and sheriff’s deputies that was released on Wednesday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department
Halls admitted to the sheriff that he ‘should have checked’ all of the rounds but ‘didn’t.’
Others on set described Gutierrez-Reed as having a slap-dash approach to firearms training.
Actor Jenson Ackles told how she let him pick his own gun, weeks before the fatal accident involving Hutchins.
Baldwin, 63, is bunkering down with his family on the east coast while the investigation in Santa Fe continues.
He is cooperating with the authorities and has spoken to Hutchins’ widower, Matthew.
No one has been charged over the fatal accident but on Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said ‘no one’ had been ruled out.
‘All options are on the table,’ added Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
A search warrant released on Wednesday reveals how the gun made its way into Baldwin’s hands, but it remains unclear how the live round made its way into the gun.
Alec Baldwin is pictured with Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. The production started shooting on October 6. Hutchins died on October 21
‘David advised when Hannah showed him the firearm before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds.
‘He advised he should have checked them all but didn’t and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum,’ the search warrant says.
Baldwin was handed the gun and it fired in the direction of Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza. Hutchins died and Souza was hospitalized.
Afterwards, Halls brought the gun back to Gutierrez-Reed and told her to open it for him.
The warrant also describes how Hannah Gutierrez-Reed described there never being ‘any live rounds’ on set.
‘Hannah advised that she checked the ‘dummies’ and ensured “they were not hot rounds”.
‘She said as the crew broke for lunch, the firearms were taken back and secured inside a safe on a prop truck on set.
‘During lunch, she said the ammo was left on a cart on the set and not secured.
‘After lunch, [property manager] Sarah Zachary pulled the firearms out of the safe inside the truck and handed them to her.
‘She advised there are only a few people that have access and the combination to the safe.
‘Hannah advised that she handed the gun to Alec Baldwin a couple of times, and also handed it to David Halls. Hannah said no live ammo is ever kept on set.’
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