Alec Baldwin Charged with Involuntary Manslaughter in ‘Rust’ Shooting

Alec Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed have been officially charged in connection with the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust.”

In October 2021, Baldwin, an actor and producer on “Rust,” was holding the gun that discharged, killing Hutchins and wounding Souza on the set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. He has denied any wrongdoing.

The court papers were filed in the First Judicial District Court in New Mexico on Tuesday, claiming that standard film safety protocols were not followed on the set.

The papers claim, "Had Baldwin performed the required safety checks with the armorer, Reed, this tragedy would not have occurred. In addition, if Baldwin had not pointed the gun at Hutchins and Souza, this tragedy would not have occurred. This reckless deviation from the known standards and practices and protocol directly caused the fatal shooting."

Baldwin has maintained in interviews that the gun went off on its own and that he did not pull the trigger. The court docs state the gun was submitted to the FBI crime lab for examination and analysis. Their findings “clearly showed that the weapon could not ‘accidentally fire’; for the weapon to fire, the trigger had to have been depressed/pressed."

Earlier this month, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies had announced that Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed would each charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

Now that charges have been filed, the defendants are expected to receive a summons. A first appearance will be scheduled by the court.

“Rust” director Joel Souza was also shot during the incident, but survived. There will be no charges related to his injuries.

In the past, Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyer has made claims that she was framed and that there was sabotage on set. She recently filed a lawsuit against the movie’s gun and ammunition supplier.

Meanwhile, Halyna’s estate had reached a settlement with Rust Productions and Baldwin in October 2022.

As part of the settlement, the estate’s wrongful death suit against Baldwin and the filmmakers was dismissed, and Hutchins’ husband Matthew was named an executive producer on the movie. Production on the film was scheduled to start last month.

Before the charges were filed, Alec's wife Hilaria posted on Instagram, “I hope you understand how much your support and kindness to Alec and our children mean. Thank you for being our community and our village. You are helping us to be stronger parents and partners during this unimaginable time, stemming from such heartbreaking tragedy. Please know that I hear all of your outspoken words and each and every one of you reminds me daily that there is kindness in the world and we are not alone.”

She closed with, “Alec, we love you and we are here for you❤️”

Just days ago, Hilaria spoke out on her podcast “Witches Anonymous.” On Sunday, she shared, "It's been an emotional time for my family and I do so want to express to you how grateful I am for your support and your kindness and your reason. Quite honestly, without it, we would crumble. So thank you so much for being our rock right now because I don't feel so strong."

And in December, “Extra” spoke with Hilaria about where the family is at in the wake of the “Rust” tragedy.

She said, “We're not okay. We can't be okay. No one is okay. It was, and is, a tragedy that nobody could ever have imagined.”

She went on, ”I mean, the loss of her. Halyna, her son, a little son, her family, her co-workers, the people who loved her, her fans. I mean, she was an incredible, incredible woman in so many different ways.”

Opening up about Alec, she said, “I worry about him… I mean, can you imagine? Nobody can. There was so much confusion to understand what had happened.”

Baldwin shared, “When you go through something hard, you know not every day is going to be the same. You have moments in the day that are very hard. Nights are hard, nightmares are hard. So I’m just there, and I say, ‘I’m here and I’m going to take care of you,’ and I said that from the moment we realized what had happened.”

One of the toughest things for Alec and Hilaria was telling their two oldest children Carmen and Rafa what happened.

“There is no way that you can explain this because it is awful. It's awful!” she said. “I thought I was going to do this without Alec and he said, ‘No, I can't be a coward. I have to be there…’ And then when I tell them... Carmen started saying to me, ‘Why are you telling me this?...She said, ‘I want to un-know this.’ She used the word ‘un-know,’ and Alec said, ‘I want to un-know it, too,’ I think everyone wants to un-know it... because it's real.”

That is why Alec is so driven to push past his personal pain and finish the film. Hilaria explained, “We can go forward and talk about gun safety on sets, and try to figure out how this crazy thing happened, and we can go forward and honor Halyna.