Alec Baldwin fired prop gun, killing 1 on movie set, Oct 2021 #3

[Luna20]

'Rust' AD David Halls breaks silence on Alec Baldwin shooting

Still, an insider told The Post that two staffers on set told investigators they never saw Halls remove the gun from the armorer’s cart during an investigation into the incident.

The witnesses also denied that Halls had called the gun “cold” before giving it to Baldwin, according to the source.

The witnesses say they didn’t hear “cold gun” from AD but in the Deadline article the DA says he did say it.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

Well, that is interesting. If Halls didn’t remove the gun from the armorer’s cart, how did it get into AB’s hand? Halls admits he had the gun in his hands. Did he lay it back down, then AB picked it up? We know the armorer was not inside the church set - and that, in and of itself, was an epic fail by HGR.

From yesterday's LA Times article, this is how it was described:

That Thursday, the crew began preparing for the scene before Baldwin had returned from his lunch break. Gutierrez Reed entered the church with the firearms, performing a safety check with the Colt .45 in front of Halls. He thought he saw three rounds inside the gun, but he did not check them before taking the weapon in his hand.

He told investigators that “he should have checked all of them, but didn’t, and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum,” according to the affidavit.

The armorer left the church.

No stand-in performers were on site, so the first assistant director ran through Baldwin’s blocking himself, pulling the gun three times. Russell, a B-Cam operator, watched the action unfold from a monitor on his dolly. Hutchins stood over his shoulder, flanked by Souza.

(...)

During the scene, Baldwin’s character was supposed to fast-draw his weapon and shoot at a rival. Halls had not pulled the gun’s trigger during the run-throughs he performed.

But when Baldwin entered the church to do a quick rehearsal, he apparently did.

The bullet barely missed Russell before hitting the DP and the director. The trio was about two feet from the muzzle of the weapon.

(...)

The day Alec Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza

 

[Luna20]

This is why I think HGR might have a problem. The firearms should always be in line of sight.

“That's why I prefer to come in the day before a shoot to pull all of the guns, blanks and dummy rounds being used and conduct a safety check.

After completing my checks, everything gets locked in a safe in the production office or on a truck if we're on location.

What happens the day of a shoot
I pull the items from the safe, and as a redundancy, I check them again. Then I load them onto a cart — preferably a locked one — that doesn't leave my sight. That means unless I have an assistant armorer or someone from the props department working with me, there are no bathroom breaks.

I'm also responsible for adequately educating actors and stunt performers on the safe usage of any weapons which will be used for their role.

You'd be shocked by the number of actors who have never been shown how to safely handle a firearm, which doesn't exactly make for a safe work environment. But unless an actor has taken it upon themselves to get trained, studios often don't require any formal knowledge or training”

I'm a film and TV armorer. Here's what needs to change in the industry to avoid another on-set tragedy.

 

[Gardenista]

It's like a game of hot potato. ETA Must watch video at the link.

Lawyer for 'Rust' assistant director refuses to answer if he handed gun to Alec Baldwin

 

[Luna20]

From yesterday's LA Times article, this is how it was described:

That Thursday, the crew began preparing for the scene before Baldwin had returned from his lunch break. Gutierrez Reed entered the church with the firearms, performing a safety check with the Colt .45 in front of Halls. He thought he saw three rounds inside the gun, but he did not check them before taking the weapon in his hand.

He told investigators that “he should have checked all of them, but didn’t, and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum,” according to the affidavit.

The armorer left the church.

No stand-in performers were on site, so the first assistant director ran through Baldwin’s blocking himself, pulling the gun three times. Russell, a B-Cam operator, watched the action unfold from a monitor on his dolly. Hutchins stood over his shoulder, flanked by Souza.

(...)

During the scene, Baldwin’s character was supposed to fast-draw his weapon and shoot at a rival. Halls had not pulled the gun’s trigger during the run-throughs he performed.

But when Baldwin entered the church to do a quick rehearsal, he apparently did.

The bullet barely missed Russell before hitting the DP and the director. The trio was about two feet from the muzzle of the weapon.

(...)

The day Alec Baldwin shot Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza

HGR performed a safety check with AD. So that’s the chain of custody. Did she then expect him to make the call or did she show him it was safe? She would be the one presenting the Safety Check.

To me that has to be her call. Why would he be expected to call it after she shows it to him?

 

[Luna20]

It's like a game of hot potato

Lawyer for 'Rust' assistant director refuses to answer if he handed gun to Alec Baldwin

I don’t blame him. I think HGR is going to try to put it on the AD.

ETA-typo

 

[jjenny]

I respect your point of view, but IMO this is self-contradictory. If someone did intentionally insert a live round, with a view to exposing the danger on set, then why would they simultaneously expect that the "multiple safety checks" would discover the live bullet before it got into the actor's hands?

The point you and some others are making is that there WERE no multiple safety checks, so therefore to prove the set was dysfunctional, someone inserted a live bullet with the hope it would bring this problem to the forefront. But then that person would expect the "multiple safety checks" to prevent anyone from actually getting hurt, which contradicts the whole point.

Of course I agree that the whole set was messed up and the safety procedures were clearly not adhered to. I just don't agree that it was done purposefully, whether to murder someone, or to prove the point that safety checks were lacking. IMO.

Yep, I think it's pretty clear there weren't multiple safety checks on the set. Armorer was green, AD didn't appear to be too concerned with safety, and by his own admission didn't check the gun properly. But I doubt someone did it on purpose. More likely as far as I am concerned, live bullet was loaded into the gun by accident, because live ammunition and dummies were present on the set (maybe even mixed together, who knows).

 

[jjenny]

It's like a game of hot potato. ETA Must watch video at the link.

Lawyer for 'Rust' assistant director refuses to answer if he handed gun to Alec Baldwin

Well, it's too little too late, because AD already admitted to handing gun to Alec Baldwin.

 

[jjenny]

HGR performed a safety check with DA. So that’s the chain of custody. Did she then expect him to make the call or did she show him it was safe? She would be the one presenting the Safety Check.

To me that has to be her call. Why would he be expected to call it after she shows it to him?

Because by his own admission, that's how they were doing it. She presents the gun to the AD, he is supposed to check it, then he calls it.

 

[Gardenista]

I don’t blame him. I think HGR is going to try to put it on the DA.

Apparently there was an assistant armorer and another person who inspected the gun

 

[Dotta]

Rust assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin loaded gun speaks out for the first time | Daily Mail Online

 

[jjenny]

Well, that is interesting. If Halls didn’t remove the gun from the armorer’s cart, how did it get into AB’s hand? Halls admits he had the gun in his hands. Did he lay it back down, then AB picked it up? We know the armorer was not inside the church set - and that, in and of itself, was an epic fail by HGR.

He didn't pick it from the cart because she gave it to him. She showed Halls the gun, he remembers seeing 3 rounds.

 

[jjenny]

Apparently there was an assistant armorer and another person who inspected the gun

They didn't have an assistant armorer-where did you hear that?

 

[Luna20]

Because by his own admission, that's how they were doing it. She presents the gun to the AD, he is supposed to check it, then he calls it.

He’s toast if he agreed to take the role of the armorer. That’s her role.

 

[mom2four717]

Try as I might, I can't keep up with this thread and all the info coming out.
One quick question, was the gal in charge of the armory, on set from the begining or was she hired when the union walked?

 

[Luna20]

Try as I might, I can't keep up with this thread and all the info coming out.
One quick question, was the gal in charge of the armory, on set from the begining or was she hired when the union walked?

The beginning.

 

[Satchie]

'Rust' AD David Halls breaks silence on Alec Baldwin shooting

Still, an insider told The Post that two staffers on set told investigators they never saw Halls remove the gun from the armorer’s cart during an investigation into the incident.

The witnesses also denied that Halls had called the gun “cold” before giving it to Baldwin, according to the source.

But how reliable is that? In fact, how reliable is anyone's memory in this case?

IMO no one expected anything to go wrong, I don't consider it likely that it was similar to a bomb disposal team with everyone's full attention focused on the gun. There were a lot of people in a small space, with probably everyone cross talking about everything. a lot of people with other things preoccupying their minds.

IMO, it would only be after the initial shock and concern, possibly quite a bit after, when police started asking questions, that they would try to focus on what happened immediately before. And yet, there were many previous instances of the same routine, that could get mixed up with this one.

It's like trying to remember if you locked your house door when you left....do you distinctly remember that moment 1 or 2 hours later, or do you just assume, because you always lock it, and you have the keys with you, you must have locked it?

We just don't pay full attention to everything we say and do at every moment, and sure as heck, other people aren't paying attention to what we're doing, either.

 

[jjenny]

Try as I might, I can't keep up with this thread and all the info coming out.
One quick question, was the gal in charge of the armory, on set from the begining or was she hired when the union walked?

From the beginning.

 

[Mo Thuairim]

It's like a game of hot potato. ETA Must watch video at the link.

Lawyer for 'Rust' assistant director refuses to answer if he handed gun to Alec Baldwin

Clear as mud.

From your link:

"This idea my client grabbed the gun and handed it to Baldwin absolutely did not happen," she said, but later backtracked and dodged questions about whether Halls handed the gun to Baldwin, despite McCallum asking whether Halls "doesn't know if he handed the gun to Alec Baldwin."

(...)

When pressed further, the attorney said she has spoken to some crew members who remember Gutierrez-Reed handing the weapon to Baldwin while others recall seeing Halls pass it to the actor directly after being passed the weapon by Gutierrez-Reed himself.

(...)

Lawyer for 'Rust' assistant director refuses to answer if he handed gun to Alec Baldwin

 

[Luna20]

What are three important factors to keep in mind when hiring an armorer and working with weapons on the set?

1.) Safety concerns: When working with producers and directors, one of the first questions that I ask is whether we will be using blanks, or are they planning on putting in everything during post. Blanks change everything in terms of the safety issues on set; there is a discharge of flame and smoke, and more things come into play. When we read the script, I am not just looking at which actors will need weapons and what types of weapons will be needed, I am also looking at what every scene is calling for in terms of the actor and what they are being asked to do with that weapon. Based on certain scenes, I can compile my questions to go over with the producer/director, or in some cases, the special effects personnel. Our objective is first and foremost safety, but we also need to make the film we are working on look as real as possible.

2.) Make sure they are licensed. An armorer should have the proper licenses and permits to operate. (e.g. California requires that the armorer hold an EFP, Entertainment Firearms Permit. Without this permit, there are certain state laws that you will be breaking.) Knowledge is also key. An armorer should not only be knowledgeable about the weapons they will be using and the period they will portraying, but should also have some knowledge of the film industry and how a film shoot works. Hence, factor in experience. An armorer of course should have experience with weapons, but if they have had experience in the film industry, then they will have learned the little things that come up that can turn into big things, and therefore know how to make things continue to flow and keep everybody happy and safe.

More:

Want Weapons in Your Film? Ask a Pro - Film Independent