'Rust' armorer says she doesn't know how live ammo got on set, according to attorneys

cnn ^

[mylife]

The gun supervisor for the film "Rust," on which a crew member was killed after a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin went off during rehearsal, has no idea where the real bullet came from, she says.

Hannah Gutierrez was responding to "untruths that have been told to the media," a statement released Thursday night by her attorneys to NBC News said. Santa Fe County Sheriff says Baldwin fired suspected live round on Rust set Santa Fe County Sheriff says Baldwin fired 'suspected live round' on 'Rust' set "Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set," reads the statement from attorneys Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence. "Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from." CNN reached out to Gutierrez's attorneys and the "Rust" production office Friday morning for comment.

[OldWarBaby]

I keep reading that there were three (3) pistols/revolvers. But no one seems to know what model(s)?
I build this stuff and wonder if all three looked exactly the same but were built differently inside. Nobody seems to know what kind of scene they were setting up for? But I can see where one might have been a fully functional piece. One might have had chambers cut for blanks only. And one might have looked right but been non-functional.

If Baldy was practicing his quick draw with the live one, thinking he had the dummy it didn’t work out. Or did the scene actually use three armed people to make the set-up? It seems to me that one guy with one gun doesn’t make much of a plot. But there was that one Maverick movie where he shot a hole in the hardware store ceiling?

[TexasGator]

” Alex Baldwin need to be arrested for criminal homicide.”

Involuntary manslaughter

[TexasGator]

“I keep reading that there were three (3) pistols/revolvers. But no one seems to know what model(s)?”

Posted several times. Released by county sheriff as vintage Pietta .45 Long Colt.

Another was a gun apparently modified to non-shooting.

Third was fake replica.

[pfflier]

We don't know how he got the gun. We don't know if he knew the condition of the gun, We don't know if he deliberately pointed it at the victim. We don't know his state of mind at the time it happened. The sheriff presumably does or is finding this out.

We are speculating yet hoping that karma slaps baldwin. Charges could range from involuntary manslaughter, to murder 1 to nothing at all.

[TexasGator]

“We don’t know how he got the gun.”

He (Alec) was given the gun by the Assistant Director.

“We don’t know if he knew the condition of the gun,”

All Guns are presumed to be loaded.

“We don’t know if he deliberately pointed it at the victim.”

Victims. Deliberate: murder, otherwise Involuntary manslaughter.

[gundog]

I think he was supposed to shoot someone from a church pew in that scene. I don’t know if a one was supposed to return fire. Seems likely.

[MHGinTN]

Should be finger prionts on the shell casings of whomever loaded the rounds in.

[MHGinTN]

I have a hole int he floor of my dining room from a good freind handig me a Sig P6 he said was not loaded as he showed me the magazine in his hand. He swore he never carried it with a live round in the firing chamber. When he said he wanted me to lighten the trigger pull on double action I foolishly pointed the weapon at the floor and tested the trigger. I WILL NEVER AGAIN TRUST SOMEONE ELSE on loaded or not.

[TexasGator]

“Should be finger prionts on the shell casings of whomever loaded the rounds in.”

Armorer unloaded gun and handled spent casing before cops arrived.

[Lurker]

“We don’t know how he got the gun.”

Irrelevant. He had it in his hand no matter if someone gave it to him or Jesus Christ himself miracled it into his hand.

“We don’t know if he deliberately pointed it at the victim.”

The only difference that would make is the degree of manslaughter.

“We don’t know his state of mind at the time it happened.”

See above.

If his state of mind was “I’m going to kill you!” Then it’s Murder. If it was something else it’s manslaughter of one degree or another.

Apply the Bubba Test here:

Bubba One hands Bubba Two a gun and says “Don’t worry. It ain’t loaded.”
Bubba Two says “Cool!” Points the gun at Bubba One, pulls the trigger, and Bubba One falls dead from a gunshot wound.

Bubba Two is going to prison in any jurisdiction in the land.

Period.

L

[al baby]

They were having a blast shooting at stuff I guarantee it shooting is like dope ever for silly leftist actors

[al baby]

Kinda like Alec is saying now

[yesthatjallen]

I hope someone secured the live rounds and checked them for finger prints.

[ETCM]

I think it will all come down to who’s finger prints are on the shell casings of the live ammo in the gun....

According to several reports, Gutierrez was allowed to handle the revolver after the shooting, including removing the spent .45LC cartridge and turning it over to sheriffs deputies on set. I'm not sure if forensics can determine finger prints that were effectively baked onto the cartridge when it was fired.

The "loose rounds" were almost certainly from the armorer. Not many people still shoot .45LC, so it's unlikely the actors and crew brought their own. Hell, I have a Colt SAA and I only have a couple dozen rounds of LC.

[Paleo Pete]

Know what?

I don’t really care how live ammo GOT THERE...

A couple of things really do bother me though.

This “armorer” - a word I use loosely - failed to check the weapon and discover that it was actually loaded with live ammo.

Dumbass gun control fanatic Baldwin also failed to check the gun, being on a movie set with a gun in his hand he should be aware of and practicing firerarm safety.

The first rule of firearm safety is alwys assume every gun is loaded, until YOU prove it is not.

If you do that, the chance of a problem if you violate rule #2 is slim...never point a gun at another person.

And why was a real, operational gun NOT locked up when not in use on the set? Why was it available to the crew to grab up and go out plinking with? Being used as a movie prop, it seems to me that for the sake of safety, it should be under lock and key and the armorer’s immediate supervision EVERY SINGLE MINUTE it is on the movie set. That means NOT available to anyone to go plinking with at any time for any reason.

Both armorer and Baldwin should be indicted, based on what I know so far.

[PCPOET7]

a simple wipe of the bult will not remove the oils of the finger print. the oil is burnt by the primer going off. not sure of the process but as long as the bullet is the same bullet and the person is not using brass cleaner or some other chemical to remove the residue a simple wipe wont work and it will be evident if the bullet casing was tampered with...this is just my thoughts I could verry will be inaccurate on this.

[pfflier]

“We don’t know how he got the gun.”

Irrelevant. He had it in his hand no matter if someone gave it to him or Jesus Christ himself miracled it into his hand.

If two industry professionals, the assistant director and the prop manager/armorer handed him the gun and said it was checked out OK, then at most, he is an accessory to negligent homicide.

Anyone properly trained in firearms would say what we have all been saying, that baldwin didn't check or use it properly. We would like to see him get nailed for that,

However in a business where they do stuff like this hundreds of times a year it is safe to assume that the actor is the weakest link because they know the least about firearm safety usually. They just wait for "action", pull the trigger, wait for "cut" then get their makeup touched-up for the next scene.

[ETCM]

If two industry professionals, the assistant director and the prop manager/armorer handed him the gun and said it was checked out OK, then at most, he is an accessory to negligent homicide.

People are way overstating Baldwin's negligence in failing to check the gun. There are two types of ammo used on the set, blanks and dummy rounds. Dummy rounds look just like a live round, and are used in cases like the scene Baldwin was rehearsing where the gun is pointed directly at the camera like this pic:

In this case, the armorer has to ensure the ammo is dummy rounds, and that can require unloading the gun and checking each round for the telltale, either a BB inside that makes the round rattle when shaken or a hole drilled in the round.

And despite everyone suddenly forgetting every movie they've ever watched where gun play is involved, actors absolutely DO point guns at things they do not intend to destroy or kill. And there are extensive safety measures that ensure no one is injured, the most important being a qualified armorer on set every scene where guns are involved.

Baldwin's negligence as the Producer is what will cost him. He hired an unqualified armorer, an Asst Director who was fired from a movie in 2019 after an actor was injured by a prop-gun that he had declared "cold", failed to address multiple safety issues on the Rust set, including 2 other negligent discharges a week before the death, both with a supposedly "cold gun", allowed after hours shooting that involved loading the prop guns with live ammo, and more. THAT is where his negligence will cost him.

[pfflier]

Very nicely laid out summary. Sounds like you have enough knowledge to do more than guess and speculate like most of us have been guilty of.

Let me end my involvement in this thread by saying I dislike baldwin enough to want to see him get ruined by this. I will freely admit that alone has influenced my comments.

[OldWarBaby]

Thanx for the help but please note the following FYI: F.lli Pietta makes nothing that can be called “vintage.” They are now owned by EMF, an importer, are relative newbies in the gun bizness, and make replicas. Nothing they make is a true copy of anything that might have been used in the Old West. Close maybe but when one knows the difference it is usually obvious at arms length.

I heard the sheriff running his jaws but he didn’t quite know what he was describing. .45 Long Colt didn’t actually exist in the Old West. The caliber was .45 Colt and it was black powder, which for historical accuracy should have been a bit smoky. So I still don’t know if the 3 guns looked alike, what they were supposed to represent, why there were 3, and how far Baldy’s head was up his nether regions when he let go.

So far as my current catalog shows the Pietta’’s don’t make a black powder version of an SSA or anything quite like it so I’m still waiting for a write up from someone who was actually there and awake at the time?