Topline
The armorer for Alec Baldwin’s movie Rust — Hannah Gutierrez-Reed — filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the company that supplied weapons and ammunition to the film’s set, alleging it provided the film with both dummy and live rounds, as an investigation continues into the fatal on-set shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO – OCTOBER 22: A sign directs people to the road that leads to the Bonanza Creek … [+]
Key Facts
In a complaint filed in New Mexico state court, Gutierrez-Reed accused PDQ Media Arms and Prop LLC. and its owner Seth Kenney of violating New Mexico’s unfair trade practices law, creating a dangerous condition on set and breach of contract.
Gutierrez-Reed alleges PDQ, the film’s primary supplier of ammunition, provided the set with ammunition boxes that contained both dummy and live rounds.
The day of Hutchins’ shooting, Gutierrez-Reed said she loaded Baldwin’s gun with six bullets: Five had holes indicating they were dummy rounds, and a sixth came from a new box that arrived in the prop truck that morning.
The new box of rounds “jingled” when Gutierrez-Reed shook it, signalling it contained dummy ammunition, according to the complaint.
After Hutchins was shot, the complaint alleges investigators found seven live rounds in an ammunition box, on an ammunition cart and in bandoliers that had a Starline Brass logo with “nickel” primers.
Kenney has denied that he provided live ammunition to the Rust film set.
Forbes has reached out to PDQ Media Arms and Prop LLC. for comment.
Key Background
During the filming of Rust in October, a live round from a prop gun Baldwin was holding killed Hutchins and injured the film’s director, igniting a months-long investigation. The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office confirmed it found live rounds on the film set and was investigating how they got there, and in November, the sheriff’s department issued a search warrant for PDQ after Kenney and Gutierrez-Reed’s father – himself a well-known Hollywood armorer – indicated in interviews that a possible ammunition mixup occurred. Kenney told investigators that he provided Rust with dummy ammunition from a brand called Starline Brass, and he had also received “reloaded ammunition” with a similar logo from a friend, while Gutierrez-Reed’s father claimed that Kenney may have mixed up caliber .45 live rounds – the kind used in Baldwin’s gun – from a previous shoot. Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys have previously suggested the set was “sabotaged,” but Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies has refuted these claims, saying investigators haven’t found proof that live ammunition was placed on the set deliberately.
Further Reading
‘Rust’ Search Warrant Suggests Live Ammo On Set May Have Come From Weapons Supplier (Forbes)
Was ‘Rust’ Shooting An Act Of ‘Sabotage’? Lawyers Armorer Raise Theory (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2022/01/12/rust-armorer-sues-ammo-supplier—claims-company-provided-live-rounds-in-fatal-shooting/