On the set they played at shooting cans. Even the actor (and producer) now risks: he accidentally shot the director of photography, whom he killed, and the director
«Because you have given me a loaded gun? Why? »He cried Alec Baldwin immediately after he accidentally shot the director of photography and the director of his film Rust, last Thursday, at 13.50 (21.50 in Italy), Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. After days of revelations on the investigation he is carrying out the sheriff’s office the answer that can already be given, with certainty, to your question, is: per neglect, inability, sloppiness. Out of insane unconsciousness, out of a hurry to complete a western from
ridiculous budget for today’s Hollywood, six million dollars. The result: Baldwin, in the shoes of a gunslinger, centered on director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, and director Joel Souza, 48. Hutchins died before arriving at the hospital, Souza was lightly injured in the shoulder.
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The shots for play
Yesterday’s revelations are particularly shocking. Everyone was wondering as it was possible that a prop pistol had a bullet in the barrel, right? It became known that the members of the small, ramshackle troupe in the previous days (before leaving, a few hours before the tragedy, to protest against the overwork and the hotel 80 km from the set, replaced by local non-union staff) used to kill time loading the prop weapons with real bullets, and playing shooting game with empty beer cans near the set. Is called «plinking», in slang: a very American habit (Americans are 329 million, guns at least 390 million), but the first safety rule of any set is that there cannot be real ammunition, only those with blanks made on purpose by specialized technicians, without bullets, who simply make noise and a very spectacular lightning but which do not let anything come out of the gun.
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Negligence and accusations
How did a loaded gun end up in Baldwin’s hands? Assistant director Dave Halls gave it to him, after shouting, as per procedure, to be heard by the cast and crew, “unloaded gun”, thus guaranteeing everyone that the take would take place in complete safety (it was known yesterday that Halls had been kicked out from a production precisely for violations of gun safety when a gun was fired by mistake, and for sexual misconduct). In the recording of the emergency call call, you will hear the script supervisor of the production inveigh against Halls, “that son of p …”. Who gave Halls the loaded gun? Almost rookie weapons manager Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, who got the job after other more experienced ones called themselves out due to the paltry budget and forced stage work (Gutierrez-Reed is the daughter of a famous stuntman and gunsmith of Hollywood, who personally taught her the trade).
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What can happen
The possible consequences? The criminal ones are to be determined: the testimonies would relieve Baldwin of consequences for criminal negligence, while Gutierrez-Reed and Halls are very much at risk. Those civilians? Huge, and highly branched. The insurance will hardly be enough to cover the extent of the damage caused: the victim’s family, in the absence of an out-of-court agreement, will be able to sue the production for damages (Baldwin is co-producer: it seems safe or almost from criminal aftermath but civil ones seem guaranteed) and, individually, Gutierrez-Reed, Halls, and others.
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October 26, 2021 (change October 26, 2021 | 23:58)
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