Alec Baldwin’s ‘reckless’ behaviour resulted in fatal Rust shooting, claims DA
Alec Baldwin’s “reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol” directly caused the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office has alleged.
The DA alleged the actor had shown “wilful disregard” for the safety of others in the days leading up to the incident on the Rust movie set in New Mexico.
Baldwin was not present for “mandatory” firearms training, instead undergoing a 30-minute on-set session, during which he was distracted by a phone call to his family, the DA said.
It comes as both Baldwin and the film’s armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed were formally charged with two charges of involuntary manslaughter stemming from the incident in October 2021.
The charges were formally filed on Tuesday by the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office, along with a statement of probable cause.
The statement said that on the day of the shooting, there were “no less than a dozen acts, or omissions of recklessness” on the set in the period prior to the incident.
“The evidence and statements documented in this affidavit confirm many instances of extremely reckless acts or reckless failures to act by Baldwin in a 10-day period,” the statement read.
“Evidence clearly shows that none of the incidents or issues were addressed by Baldwin, in his position as actor or producer, to mitigate future occurrences of recklessness, correct reckless behaviour, or correct training deficiencies.
“Baldwin’s deviation from known standards, practice and protocol directly caused the fatal death of Hutchins.”
