the gunsmith evokes a “sabotage” – Liberation

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys are advancing a malicious act theory to explain how a live ammunition killed Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie ‘Rust’.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the lead gunsmith for filming the western Rust, on which cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died on October 21. She was hit by a live ammunition that was in the revolver given to Alec Baldwin presenting it to him as a harmless weapon. An accident which could be the consequence of a «sabotage», according to Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers.

The latter affirmed on NBC television that their client had loaded the revolver using ammunition found in a box of dummy cartridges, and that she was unaware of the origin of the real bullet responsible for the accident.

“We assume someone must have put the actual ammunition in that box. If you think about it, the person who put this real ammunition in the box of dummy cartridges must have wanted to commit sabotage on the set.said Jason Bowles. “That’s the only reason to do such a thing”, insisted the lawyer.

“Unattended”

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, combined the functions of gunsmith and assistant prop on set, and therefore could not constantly monitor the weapons. “There was a period of time, approximately between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. that day, during which the firearms were sometimes unattended” and during which the sabotage could have taken place, assured the lawyer.

Asked to explain why a member of the team could have wanted to sabotage the western, Jason Bowles mentioned the employees. “There are people who left the set, who left because they were unhappy”, he said. Many media have indeed mentioned the departure of operators employed on the set a few hours before the tragedy, due in particular to concerns about the safety instructions and claims about their working conditions. “There have already been two accidental weapon discharges, and a planned explosion for special effects that went off near the crew between takes… To be clear, there was no safety meeting these days”, said Lane Luper, a resigner, in an email announcing her resignation, quoted by the NBC.

No arrests have been made at this stage of the investigation, but the courts have not ruled out possible criminal proceedings if responsibilities are established. The Santa Fe County Sheriff, who is overseeing the investigation, said “that there was a certain sloppiness on this set”.

A few days ago, David Halls, the assistant director who gave Baldwin the gun, told investigators he should have checked the gun before but failed to do so. He had already been fired from filming in 2019 for an accident with a gun.

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