Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on the set of Rust in October 2021.
New details have emerged about Baldwin’s time on set and his behavior before Hutchins’ tragic death, as revealed by Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. While announcing the charges against Baldwin yesterday (Jan. 31), Carmack-Altwies painted a damning picture of Baldwin’s allegedly distracted and negligent behavior, including claims that he did not attend a firearms training and was on his phone during a separate training session, per The Daily Mail.
Documents released yesterday and obtained by the outlet accuse Baldwin of “reckless deviation from known standards and practice and protocol.”
Prosecutors stated in the documents that Baldwin was not present at a Rust firearms training, and when he was subsequently scheduled to complete an hour-long session with armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, he only participated in 30 minutes of the training, during which he “was distracted and talking on his cell phone to his family.”
While Baldwin has denied responsibility in Hutchins’ death — saying in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, “I didn’t pull the trigger” — prosecutors are questioning his claims. Docs obtained by The Daily Mail claim the actor gave “inconsistent accounts” of the shooting, saying he fired the gun then denying that he pulled the trigger.
According to prosecutors, “Photos and videos clearly show Baldwin, multiple times, with his finger inside the trigger guard and on the trigger.”
Baldwin also allegedly “approached responding deputies on the day of the shooting, wanting to talk to them because he was the one who ‘fired’ the gun,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors additionally allege that necessary safety checks were not requested by Baldwin when the shooting took place, and they claim a plastic gun should have been on set that day, not the weapon that was used during the unscheduled rehearsal.
Both Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, but their lawyers say they will fight the charges. If convicted, Baldwin could face up to five years in prison.
Hutchins died in October 2021 after being shot on set of Rust during a rehearsal for the film. She died in a New Mexico hospital after being struck in the chest by a bullet fired from a prop gun.
Baldwin has claimed that he is not responsible for the gun going off and shooting Hutchins. He told Stephanopoulos in December 2021, “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I would never pull the trigger,” adding, “I would never point a gun at anyone and then pull the trigger, never. Someone put a live bullet in the gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
