After the tragic shooting death during the filming of the film Rust In 2021, Alec Baldwin will now be charged with manslaughter, New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced in a statement.
It was in October 2021 that actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun during the filming of the film Rust and accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The incident took place on a ranch near Sante Fe, New Mexico, and the film’s director Joel Souza was also injured in the accident.
Charged with causing the death of another
On Thursday, New Mexico District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies announced that both Alec Baldwin and the film production’s gun operator, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, will be charged with manslaughter.
“After a thorough review of the evidence and the laws of New Mexico, I have determined that there is sufficient evidence to prosecute Alec Baldwin and other members of Rusts production. Under my responsibility, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice,” she says.
Baldwin has previously claimed he did not pull the gun’s trigger or know it was loaded. Instead, he has placed responsibility for the tragedy on Gutierrez-Reed, as well as the production’s props assistant and the assistant director who gave him the gun. The production members’ lawyers have accused Baldwin of trying to shift the blame onto their clients.
Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed face up to 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine if convicted of manslaughter.
