adbSource: BELGA, LA Times, ABC
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Baldwin is partly responsible for the fatal shooting incident, according to the indictment. As a film producer, he should have implemented safety regulations, says Svetnoy.
In addition, as an actor, it was not necessary for him to really fire the weapon during rehearsals at that time. The revolver shouldn’t have contained actual ammunition, but Baldwin should also have known to double-check the gun after assistant director Dave Halls handed it to him.
Gutierrez-Reed and Halls . also
In addition to Baldwin and other producers, the lighting technician is also suing weapons specialist Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Halls.
A photo of technician Serge Svetnoy with Halyna Hutchins was shown at a press conference. — © AFP
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Halls told police he should have checked all the casings in the revolver for fakes, but admitted he hadn’t.
The 24-year-old weapons specialist Gutierrez-Reed reiterated on Wednesday, in a press release from her lawyer, that she did not know there was a real bullet in the revolver. “We are convinced that sabotage has happened and that Hannah is being framed,” it sounded again. “We also believe the place was tampered with before the police arrived.”
Svetnoy’s lawyer called the allegations “extremely far-fetched” and “unbelievable” at a press conference, saying the woman “failed disastrously at her job”. The attorney also spoke of “conspiracy theories” on Wednesday, saying there was no evidence and she does not see sabotage as a possibility.
According to the indictment, both Gutierrez-Reed and Halls, and props manager Sarah Zachry, failed to thoroughly inspect the weapon. In addition, there were wider gun safety issues: ammunition was not stored properly and weapons were thrown around unattended. The production failed in its duty to hire a “competent and experienced weapons officer”, refused applications for weapons training and failed to correct “clear violations of protocol on weapons safety”.
“This incident was caused by the negligent acts and omissions of the defendants,” the indictment concludes. “Put simply, there was no reason to put a real bullet in that Colt .45 revolver or have it anywhere on the set of ‘Rest’.”
Hutchins died in his arms
The bullet that hit camera director Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza flew right past him, according to Svetnoy. The gunpowder also landed on his face and glasses, and his hearing was silenced. Hutchins did not survive the shot, Souza was wounded.
Svetnoy held Hutchins in his arms as she died. The two had been friends for over five years and worked on nine films together. They were both migrants from Ukraine and they spent vacations together with their families.
–Svetnoy burst into tears during the press conference. — © EPA-EFE
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Earlier, Svetnoy had shared the latest photo of Hutchins on set, and a lengthy Facebook post outlining his thoughts on what had gone wrong. In it, he expressed his condolences to Baldwin: “I don’t wish anyone to go through what I went through, what her husband and son went through, and the actor Alec Baldwin, who was given a gun on set. He has to live with the thought that he ended a person’s life because of unprofessional people.”
Svetnoy accused all the producers in his Facebook post of having been negligent for financial gain and having hired an inexperienced weapons expert. According to him, the producers were so responsible for the death of his good friend.
Baldwin was coproducer van ‘Rust’.
Svetnoy’s lawyer said at the press conference that his client wants to improve safety conditions on film sets with this case.
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