Alec Baldwin fired prop gun, killing 1 on movie set, Oct 2021 #2

[Gardenista]

More details from the HGR and DH interviews

Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' movie assistant director admits to gun-safety mistakes, search warrant reveals

 

[whitelilac]

'Rust' AD admits he 'should have checked' gun before on-set shooting

“Rust” assistant director David Halls said he picked up the gun and brought it over to the production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, to be checked before resuming rehearsal the day of the fatal incident on the Santa Fe, New Mexico, production, according to a search warrant filed Wednesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

“I check the barrel for obstructions, most of the time there’s no live fire, [Hannah] opens the hatch and spins the drum, and I say cold gun on set,” Halls told authorities, referring to a production term that means that the firearm doesn’t contain live rounds.

More at the link

I understood that Halls gave the gun directly to Baldwin, from the cart. So he gave it to Hannah first to check it? That's new info.

 

[Dotta]

Latest update
https://www-dailymail-co-uk.cdn.amp...overed-Baldwin-set-including-live-rounds.html

 

[Gardenista]

Here is the warrant and affidavit released today

https://deadline.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/rust-oct-27-search-warrant_Redacted.pdf

 

[jjenny]

I understood that Halls gave the gun directly to Baldwin, from the cart. So he gave it to Hannah first to check it? That's new info.

Maybe he is describing what he is supposed to do. Because if they checked the gun, a live bullet wouldn't have been in there.

 

[jjenny]

More details from the HGR and DH interviews

Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' movie assistant director admits to gun-safety mistakes, search warrant reveals

It appears he claims he gave it to armorer to check prior to giving it Baldwin.

 

[Luna20]

More details from the HGR and DH interviews

Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' movie assistant director admits to gun-safety mistakes, search warrant reveals

What does this mean? Is he talking about same gun, same scene?

“After it was fired, Halls picked up the gun from a pew in the church set and took it to the armorer. Gutierrez Reed was told to open the gun so he could see what was inside. Halls said there were five rounds in the gun, at least four of which had"dummy" casings, as indicated by a hole on the side. There was one without the hole. He advised this round did not have the "cap" on it and was just the casing. David advised the incident was not a deliberate act, according to the affidavit”

 

[jjenny]

Can someone who knows guns comment on these recent statements by HGR and DH? I don't know how you are supposed to check a gun, so I'm confused--are they saying that both of them checked the gun, but may not have done it correctly? What does it mean when he says he "only saw three rounds in the chamber" and should have checked all of them?

What I do get is that either there were real bullets on set or there weren't. HGR is saying there weren't, but obviously there were. So either she's lying or someone was breaking the rules.

I think he is saying he saw 3 dummy rounds-intert rounds that are not live and don't fire. There could be six rounds in the chamber, so he only checked that half of the rounds were "dummies."

 

[jjenny]

It would appear he is saying after the gun fired (what we know was a live bullet) they checked the gun. There were four "dummy rounds in it" and one round that was not a dummy-presumably one that just fired a bullet.

 

[PrairieWind]

Can someone who knows guns comment on these recent statements by HGR and DH? I don't know how you are supposed to check a gun, so I'm confused--are they saying that both of them checked the gun, but may not have done it correctly? What does it mean when he says he "only saw three rounds in the chamber" and should have checked all of them?

What I do get is that either there were real bullets on set or there weren't. HGR is saying there weren't, but obviously there were. So either she's lying or someone was breaking the rules.

A lot of this is still clear as mud to me and it almost seems that each new piece of info released doesn't clarify anything. The terminology different people are using is adding to the confusion as well I think.

 

[jjenny]

Well, one of the guns was a total prop and would have been used for instances when the actor was just practicing blocking and stage business, that would be the rubber/plastic gun. It would not look real in the scene. The second gun would have looked real but it was unable to be fired (should have been the choice here).

That last gun was the "coolest" gun because it was a vintage Colt .45 and therefore felt and behaved like a real gun - because it was. Lots of people would appreciate the chance to handle one (and shoot it properly). Alec felt more "in character" in the shot - and if everyone thought it contained blanks, then they were shooting film (the Sheriff said there was some film from the set that morning, so they weren't just rehearsing.

Armorer is not mentioned as being on set for that shot...which was a huge mistake (obviously, she wasn't a professional or real armorer, just someone with the titlle, IMO. Nick Cage has spoken out about her lack of experience and professionalism in the only other film where she was an armorer.

And then of course, there's the impetuous and apparently arrogant Assistant Director (MOO).

At any rate, there's a fine line between a rehearsal where the gaffer and the camera crew is there - and practice shots. The gaffer, Serge Svetnoy has posted about the situation and provided a picture on Facebook. It is the last picture of Halyna alive. It looks like the set has been cleared of all but essential personnel and if it is a rehearsal, From my POV, Halyna is using the camera in that shot...which is of Alec and a little boy who is playing the role of his grandson.

It's interesting that no one has mentioned that there were also child actors on the set.

Well, AD claims armorer was on the set and he gave her the gun to check prior to giving it to Baldwin.

 

[Satchie]

I don't know anything about guns but this video shows one of this type being loaded:

So you have to spin the barrel to load each bullet. The guy on the video leaves the top chamber unloaded so that if the gun is accidently triggered once, nothing will happen.

It sounds like AD is saying he didn't open the gun barrel himself, the Amorer did. I think it was not loaded in his presence, so it appears he is saying he looked at the 'back end' of the items in the chambers. So wouldn't see from the front end whether they were real bullets, but could tell by looking for a hole on the back of each one. He seems to be saying he's not sure whether he looked at the back of them all.

 

[jjenny]

A lot of this is still clear as mud to me and it almost seems that each new piece of info released doesn't clarify anything. The terminology different people are using is adding to the confusion as well I think.

Dummy rounds are inert rounds that don't fire bullets.

 

[jjenny]

Can someone who knows guns comment on these recent statements by HGR and DH? I don't know how you are supposed to check a gun, so I'm confused--are they saying that both of them checked the gun, but may not have done it correctly? What does it mean when he says he "only saw three rounds in the chamber" and should have checked all of them?

What I do get is that either there were real bullets on set or there weren't. HGR is saying there weren't, but obviously there were. So either she's lying or someone was breaking the rules.

He claims he gave her the gun to check. He claims he saw three dummy rounds (there are six total rounds in the gun). Dummy rounds are intert rounds that don't fire bullets and don't make noise.

 

[Luna20]

It would appear he is saying after the gun fired (what we know was a live bullet) they checked the gun. There were four "dummy rounds in it" and one round that was not a dummy-presumably one that just fired a bullet.

How did a bullet get into the gun with the dummies?

 

[PrairieWind]

Dummy rounds are inert rounds that don't fire bullets.

Yes I understand. I am a shooting enthusiast. But terms like "hole in the side" and "cap" and "live rounds", "prop gun" "hot gun" are being thrown around. Some of those terms have different meanings in the shooting world than they apparently do in the movie world.

 

[jjenny]

How did a bullet get into the gun with the dummies?

Well, it certainly didn't load itself, that's for sure.

 

[jjenny]

Interesting. I'll have to read the story to see if she mentions that the gun was used for target practice just that morning. Obviously there were live rounds "on the set" as someone loaded them into the gun for target practice. Someone (several someone's it appears to me) failed to check the weapon prior to it being used on set.

She doesn't mention any target practice. Claims that gun was locked in a safe during lunch break, and no live ammo is kept on set (that one we know is not accurate, since live ammo was located on set).

 

[Dotta]

What I understood is that in this Colt there was a fragment of a real bullet left from (illegal) "practice shooting" by sb from the crew.

The Colt wasnt cleaned properly.

My God - what absolutely tragic bad luck!!!!
Only one real bullet - and it fired killing Halyna.

It was Russian roulette

 

[gitana1]

Legally, actors are not responsible for safety on the set. They are not responsible for checking to make sure any props are safe. Their job is to do as directed after props are already cleared. Otherwise, that would make actors responsible for being experts on EVERYTHING they have to handle, or work with, including but not limited to pyrotechnics, harnesses, animals, etc.

That would be impossible.

People are assuming that anyone who handles a firearm on a set, including the actors, are responsible for knowing basic gun safety. They are not.

There are extensive safety mechanisms involved in getting a prop to the actor or around the actor. Having actors be experts in those props is NOT one of those mechanisms, no matter the prop.

Prop guns are props. They are never supposed to have real bullets in them. Real bullets aren’t supposed to be on set. The only objects allowed to be loaded into a prop gun are blanks. And there are safety mechanisms involved with that as well. Saying “cold gun” means the gun not only does not have a bullet in it, it does not have a blank in it.

Some actors have never owned nor shot a real gun and do not know how to check a chamber. They are simply not responsible for that. Not legally.

And as for the comments that as gun safety rule number one, no one should ever point a gun at a person, those comments demonstrate a lack of understanding of the difference between the use of props on set and the use of guns in the real world.
Simply, any footage of a gun being pointed at the screen in a film? Some being shot at the screen? That gun was pointed at the camera and hence, the camera operator. There is no other way to do that other than CGI, which wasn’t always a thing.

Gun owners are expected to know basic safety rules. The entire world is not, including actors using props.