A New Mexico jury has found Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed guilty of involuntary manslaughter for her involvement in the fatal on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in 2021.
Actor Alec Baldwin, who also co-produced the film, was rehearsing a scene for the neo-Western indie and had a prop gun pointed at Hutchins when the weapon unexpectedly fired, killing her and injuring director Joel Souza.
In her role as armourer, Gutierrez-Reed was responsible for ensuring the safety of all firearms on set. Prosecutors alleged that she loaded the fully functional .45 revolver used by Baldwin with at least one live round in addition to the dummy ones.
“She was negligent, she was careless, she was thoughtless,” prosecutor Kari Morrissey said in the trial’s closing statements [via The Guardian], further describing Gutierrez-Reed's "constant, never-ending safety failures" and her "astonishing lack of diligence."
The weapons supervisor faces up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 USD fine. She pleaded not guilty and will appeal the conviction, with her attorneys arguing that she was being used as a scapegoat in the tragic incident that they claimed Baldwin was ultimately responsible for.
The actor has also been indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter. He likewise pleaded not guilty — and has repeatedly argued that he didn't pull the trigger, despite an FBI report determining that gun couldn't have fired without it — and will face his own trial in July.
Filming on Rust resumed and was completed last year.
