A crew member who worked on the film set where a cinematographer was fatally shot is suing actor and producer Alec Baldwin, alleging he intentionally fired a loaded gun when the scene he was prepping for did not call for it.
According to the New York Post, “Rust” script supervisor Mamie Mitchell has filed a lawsuit claiming Baldwin is responsible for the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halnya Hutchins. The live round that discharged from the prop gun Baldwin was handling also injured the film’s director, Joel Souza.
Since the fatal incident on October 21, multiple reports have suggested that Baldwin accidentally discharged the gun, after being told by an assistant director — mistakenly — that the prop weapon was “cold,” meaning it did not contain any live rounds. But the lawsuit obtained by the New York Post alleges that Baldwin “intentionally, without just cause or excuse, cocked and fired a loaded gun even though the upcoming scene to be filmed did not call for the cocking and firing of a firearm.”
The lawsuit is the first time that anyone involved in the production has publicly accused Baldwin of violating safety protocols. Much of the focus has been on the film’s lead armorer, Hanna Gutierrez-Reed, who is also named as a defendant in the lawsuit, according to the New York Post. Mitchell reportedly claimed that safety protocols in the use of firearms were wholly ignored leading up to the fatal incident.
“The events that led to the shooting by Mr. Baldwin of a loaded gun constituted intentional acts and/or omission, without any just cause or excuse, on Alec Baldwin’s part or the Producers of ‘Rust,’” the lawsuit alleges.
“Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian Roulette with a loaded gun without checking it and without having the Armorer do so. His behavior and that of the Producers on ‘Rust’ were intentional acts and/or omissions. The fact that live ammunition was allowed on a movie set, that guns and ammunition were left unattended, that the gun in question was handed to Mr. Baldwin by the Assistant director who had no business doing so, the fact that safety bulletins were not promulgated or ignored, coupled with the fact that the scene in question did not call for a gun to be fired at all, makes this a case where injury or death was much more than just a possibility — it was a likely result.”
Mitchell is being represented by high-profile attorney Gloria Allred, who is expected to announce the lawsuit in a press conference this week.
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