Baldwin was 'practicing' with gun when it went off, warrant says

[RandySF]

Witnesses said actor Alec Baldwin was "practicing" with a gun when it went off before filming started on the set of "Rust" in New Mexico, according to new information released Sunday in search warrants.

The new information includes previously unreported statements from director Joel Souza and cameraman Reid Russell.

Souza said Baldwin had been practicing Thursday when the gun went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza, 48, according to the latest warrant information.

The cast and crew had taken a lunch break, and when they returned, Souza told authorities, he wasn’t sure if the firearm to be used by Baldwin had been checked anew for safety.

"Joel advised they returned back to the set after lunch, although he is not sure if the firearm was checked again," the warrant states. "Joel stated they had Alec sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of Halayna, when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop."



https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/baldwin-was-practicing-gun-when-it-went-warrant-says-n1282254

[underpants]

1. Step by step. Always assume it's loaded. It's a gun.

They went cheap in everything. Such a horrible set of events for no reason.

[harumph]

4. Enjoy your stay zero.

[WhiskeyGrinder]

5. Lol what on earth

[Vinca]

6. I think the police should explore that option. Apparently after the walkout on the set they hired

people who weren't well known to them. Since Baldwin gave the most notable (and perfect) depiction of Trump for 4 years or more, it's not crazy to think someone on the set might be a cult member and reloaded the gun with live ammunition. I think Baldwin is innocent, too, if it's true someone handed him the gun and yelled "cold" which is meant to mean a nonlethal prop gun. IMO, Baldwin does have some liability for the death and injury because he was involved with the production in some way. They should have shut the whole thing down after employees walked off the set previously because of unsafe conditions.

[LuckyCharms]

7. My thoughts are similar to yours.

I really hope it turns out to be a horrible accident, but I think what you have expressed is entirely possible.

[durablend]

9. Already said that...

Whether or not we ever find out if that was the case is another story....

[USALiberal]

10. I can't tell if you're serious or not. Nt

[BlackSkimmer]

20. Everything I've read by professionals says that under NO circumstances should a gun be pointed

at a person on set.

Mistakes made by many, it appears, but she would not be dead if he hadn’t pointed the weapon at her.

[XanaDUer2]

12. That thought crossed my mind nt

[ecstatic]

14. I think so too. Otherwise, who is putting bullets in a prop gun and why?

[Oneironaut]

16. A real gun is usually used. They use "blanks" instead of bullets.

The problem is, blanks can still shoot projectiles out if not handled properly, e.g. an object is stuck in the gun along with the blank.

In this case, it sounds like they were just negligent and left a live round in the gun after target shooting. Totally inexcusable. Also, sounds like Alec Baldwin had a negligent discharge or thought the gun was empty.

[Wingus Dingus]

17. He was told it was "cold", or empty, right before the scene by the assistant director.

Meaning someone had checked it to make sure it was empty. Someone obviously did not do this.

[Happy Hoosier]

26. Which is why....

... with proper safety procedures, you NEVER, EVER rely on one person when there is a potential for catastrophic mishap. Everyone who touched that gun should have verified it's status.

[Wingus Dingus]

28. Well, they don't rely on one person, there was supposed to be redundancy

built in to the system--the gun passed between the armorer and the assistant director and both should have confirmed it wasn't loaded at all--with BLANKS--before calling out "cold gun". Had a blank discharged, it would most likely not have harmed anyone, although it's possible. It appears NOBODY accounted for the possibility that actual bullets might be in there. That came out of left field.

[Liberal In Texas]

22. From what I've read low budget productions use real firearms because it's cheaper.

Go figure that repros are more expensive. This was a low budget production.

High budget films use reproductions capable of shooting blank ammo.

[Wingus Dingus]

18. It's possible someone tampered with it. They had just come back from lunch, they had

an inexperienced armorer who may not have realized she had to keep rechecking the guns to assure the safety status (or she didn't maintain watch over them), they had disgruntled union members who left earlier that day, they had new personnel on the set. It's not likely, but it is possible.

[sarisataka]

21. Not impossible

But ludicrously unlikely

The mysterious saboteur left many things to chance to achieve this outcome. It would never have happened without further mistakes after the set up

[Kaleva]

23. How does one set up someone to not safety check the gun?

[SYFROYH]

13. So many conflicting accounts of the incident.

It's a freakin Roshomon tale.

[Oneironaut]

15. Usually these cases are a series of screwups that were allowed to happen.

This is usually allowed to happen with negligence, which seems to be the case here as well.

[Liberal In Texas]

24. From what I've read in various reports...

They had real guns on the set. Some of the crew weren't real happy about it because others on the crew used the guns in their spare time to do target shooting.

Since this happened right after lunch, it's possible that someone was out in the desert shooting targets on their lunch break. The gun then got returned with at least one round still loaded. And the people responsible for it didn't check to see if it was safe and it got handed to Baldwin.

Should Baldwin have checked himself? I think he should have.

He probably was concerned about his performance in the scene coming up; his lines and blocking not to mention how he would handle drawing the gun. The DP was lining up the shot with the director looking over her shoulder. Baldwin was rehearsing his move and the gun fired, probably without Baldwin intending to, and the bullet went through the DP and into the director.

There had already been two misfires on this set and he had to know the gun was an actual weapon and not a prop. Even though he is an actor and not an armorer or AD, he should have checked it after it was handed to him.

[Marthe48]

25. It can't be undone

I hope that safety rules on movie sets are examined, strengthened and enforced.

Something I'll think about is that Alec Baldwin is horrified and destroyed by this accident.

There are many people, and I think you all know who I mean, who would shrug at the loss and brag they shot someone, not necessarily on 5th Ave., either. And a majority of news outlet would be vastly more sympathetic to that someone.

[Happy Hoosier]

27. We'll have to see, but...

I have heard the scene called for Baldwin to aim the gun at the camera. That would explain why the DP and Director were in the line of fire. That's generally not a recommended practice. It could also explain the accident. When seen from the front, a Western-style revolver can expose the lead bullet. For that reason, there are "dummy" cartridges which have the bullet, but no powder or primer. If a live round was mixed in with dummy cartridges, someone just kinda whipping through a safety check could miss the live round, if the dummies were not obviously marked.

I own some dummy rounds for display with an antique revolver. I don't own any live ammo for that gun (it's an antique), but if I DID, I would mark the cases so it was easy to verify which kind it was.