It was supposed to be their big break. Now two 24-year-olds are at the center of the 'Rust' shooting investigation
The two twentysomethings met just eight days before production.
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Kenney also said that he “made the introduction” between Zachry and the “Rust” producers. He said Zachry also served as PDQ’s “firearms representative.”
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On Oct. 16, Zachry accidentally shot herself in the foot with a blank fired from a gun. She was not injured, but the gun “went off right in her hands,” according to a crew member who witnessed the incident at Bonanza Creek Ranch, 13 miles south of Santa Fe. Will Waggoner, Zachry’s lawyer, did not respond to questions about the accidental discharge.
“Happens to everyone, move on,” Kenney texted Gutierrez Reed following the incident.
“It sure doesn’t look good, tho,” Gutierrez Reed responded.
The texts between the two have been viewed by The Times and authenticated by two people close to the situation who are not authorized to speak publicly. In the messages, Kenney urged Gutierrez Reed not to report Zachry’s accidental discharge to the “Rust” production office, and he suggested the armorer had slipped up too.
“Accidents and mistakes happen,” Kenney wrote to Gutierrez Reed. “Accidental discharges are accidents. A mistake is where the Armorer provides a gun and Full Load Ammo to be fired with a horse in the vicinity. Will you tell Production about that?”
“Don’t forget [Zachry]’s your boss. Don’t push it,” continued Kenney.
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Zachry and Gutierrez Reed were not the filmmakers’ first choice, or even their fifth. The Times spoke with more than a dozen people in New Mexico, Los Angeles and Texas who said they’d been approached about prop master and armorer jobs on “Rust” in late August and September.
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“Rust … is in search of a prop master asap. Previous western or armory experience [is] a plus, but not necessary,” the posting said, noting that the position would start that very day.
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With Gutierrez Reed doubling as key prop assistant — an uncommon title that several prop masters said probably connoted that she was second in command in the department — Zachry turned to her fiance’s 19-year-old sister, Nicole Montoya, for additional help.
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As she struggled to understand how a live bullet had ended up in Baldwin’s gun, Zachry described how a new box of .45-caliber Long Colt dummy rounds had arrived on the set that day.
In a written statement, Waggoner, Zachry’s lawyer, said, “As to what Hannah may have found or did not find [regarding the new box of dummy rounds], Hannah is better to answer that question.”
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Quite a bit of new info about props/armour department on Rust in long article at link.