Alec Baldwin officially charged for ‘reckless acts’ leading to shooting on ‘Rust’ set

In October 2021, Halyna Hutchins was shot and killed by a gun fired by Alec Baldwin on the set of 'Rust.' Writer and director Joel Souza was also injured in the incident.

Prosecutors have officially charged actor Alec Baldwin and a film set armourer with involuntary manslaughter in connection with the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust.

The Santa Fe’s District Attorney’s Office released a statement of probable cause on Tuesday outlining the charges — originally announced on Jan. 19 — against Baldwin, 64, and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

In the document, prosecutors accused Baldwin of “many instances of extremely reckless acts” during the film’s production.

They wrote that Baldwin “was not present” for mandatory firearms training before filming began. He was instead provided on-set guidance but prosecutors allege he was “distracted and talking on his cell phone to his family.” The training session was scheduled for an hour but was only 30 minutes long due to Baldwin’s “distraction” on the phone.

Prosecutors wrote that Baldwin’s lack of firearms training “does not comport to industry standards.” They argued that if Baldwin had performed mandatory safety checks before aiming the gun on set, Hutchins would not have been killed.

Baldwin has not yet commented on the official charges but previously said through his lawyer that he “had no reason to believe there was a live bullet in the gun — or anywhere on the movie set.”

“He relied on the professionals with whom he worked, who assured him the gun did not have live rounds,” said Baldwin’s lawyer. “We will fight these charges, and we will win.”

Gutierrez-Reed has argued that she verified the gun fired by Baldwin was loaded with dummy rounds before she passed it off to Rust’s assistant director, Dave Halls, who then handed it to Baldwin. Lawyers for Gutierrez-Reed have also vowed to fight the charges, blaming Halls for not allowing her to use a plastic gun during the fatal rehearsal scene.