I think that's probably the least of their concerns.

A couple thoughts struck me while reading the piece below. The first being that it's obvious, from the terminology and graphics used in some of the news stories reporting on this tragic incident, that we, the readers, need to understand that we are 'filtering' through essentially two layers of inexperience and ignorance. The first layer being those Hollywood professionals that know little to nothing about firearms, and the second being news reporters reporting on a gun story and yet know little to nothing about them.

Secondly, that Ms. Hutchens and Mr. Souza were obviously comfortable in doing their jobs standing behind a camera while a gun was being pointed in their direction and the trigger being pulled. This suggests to me that this is a common practice on some sets and an action they had likely faced before on other movie sets, and yet are either ignorant of the safety violation or simply comfortable with the safety measures in place despite the safety violation.

I'm not placing blame on them, but just recognizing that if experienced serious shooters were standing behind the camera and a gun was pointed in their direction, even if the gun had been checked by someone and declared 'safe', they would likely object and stop filming.

If this report is accurate, the guns on set were stored on a prop truck. Also, after the shooting, the AD picked up the gun that fired the fatal round from the church pew, handed it to the Head Armorer, and it was at this time they found a spent case mixed in with blanks.

[Note: There is a video clip of yesterday's Santa Fe Sheriff's / DA's press conference, multiple hyperlinks, and pictures/ graphics at the linked website article.]

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‘Rust’ assistant director admits he ‘should have checked’ gun before fatal on-set shooting

SANTA FE, N.M. — The assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin the revolver that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins admitted that he “should have checked” all of the rounds inside the barrel before the fatal shooting but didn’t — and he “couldn’t recall” if the production’s armorer adhered to a key safety protocol, new documents reveal.

“Rust” assistant director David Halls told police the production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, showed him the firearm before he handed it to Baldwin moments before the fatal incident on the Santa Fe, New Mexico, production, according to a search warrant affidavit released Wednesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court.

“David advised when Hannah showed him the firearm before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds. He advised he should have checked all of them, but didn’t, and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum,” detectives wrote in the affidavit.

When asked about the safety protocols on set in regards to firearms, Hall told police the armorer “spins the drum” and checks to ensure there are no live rounds before handing it off.

“I check the barrel for obstructions, most of the time there’s no live fire, [Hannah] opens the hatch and spins the drum, and I say cold gun on set,” Halls told authorities, referring to a production term that means that the firearm doesn’t contain live rounds and is safe for rehearsal.

Gutierrez was also interviewed by police, but how closely she checked the gun before handing it to Halls isn’t clear in the affidavit.

“Hannah advised on the day of the incident, she checked the ‘dummies’ and ensured they were not ‘hot’ rounds,” the document states.

“Hannah advised she handed the gun to Alec Baldwin a couple times, and also handed it to David Halls. When [a detective] asked about live ammo on set, Hannah responded no live ammo is ever kept on set."

But during a press conference Wednesday, Sheriff Adan Mendoza said about 500 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the set, including a “mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what we are suspecting [to be] live rounds.”

“We have recovered what we believe to be possible additional live rounds on set,” Mendoza told reporters.

“Right now, we’re going to determine how those got there, why they were there, because they shouldn’t have been there.”

At the time of the shooting, Baldwin was sitting in a church pew practicing a “cross draw” that required pointing the revolver directly at the camera when the firearm went off, striking Hutchins in the chest and injuring director Joel Souza, 48.

After the round struck the two crew members, Halls picked up the gun from the pew where Baldwin was sitting and handed it to Gutierrez.

The rookie armorer was told to “open” the gun so Halls could see what was inside and he recalled seeing at least four “dummy” casings with the hole on the side, “and one without the hole,” the affidavit said.

“He advised this round did not have the ‘cap’ on it and was just the casing. David advised the incident was not a deliberate act.”

No charges have been filed related to the incident.

The latest search warrant affidavit granted authorities the right to search a white “prop vehicle” where firearms and ammo were stored on the production.

According to the search warrant, when the crew broke for lunch the day of the shooting, the firearms were secured in the prop truck but during lunch, Gutierrez told police the ammo “was left on a cart on the set, not secured,” the document states.

During Wednesday’s press briefing, the first since the incident, both Mendoza and Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said it is too early to determine if criminal charges will be filed but it is clear there were issues on set.

“I think there was some complacency on this set and I think there are some safety issues that need to be addressed by the industry and possibly by the state of New Mexico but I’ll leave that up to the industry and the state,” Mendoza said.

When asked about reported allegations that Halls and Gutierrez had previously ignored gun safety protocols on other movie sets, Mendoza and Carmack-Altwies said that will factor into the investigation and urged people with information to come forward.

“We are going to follow up on some of those statements that are made that there were other incidents, we definitely want to speak to anybody that has any information in reference to safety issues on previous sets or whether there were other issues and we would encourage them to call the sheriff’s office,” Mendoza said.

“That is something that will play into our legal analysis when we get the completed investigation from the sheriff’s department,” Carmack-Altwies added.

“It could obviously play into whether charges get filed or not.”

This message has been edited. Last edited by: parabellum,

The assistant director says he checked barrel for any obstructions, and something about three rounds.

But to check the barrel in SAA to see if it was clear, you'd have to pull the cylinder out the revolver.
If he did how come he only saw three rounds?

"Cold gun" with three rounds?

Ass. Dir. makes no sense.

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The terminology and description used by the AD in the article posted above just underscores what an amateur hour this production was. "Hatch"? "Drum" "Caps"? And the idea that he saw several blanks with holes in the cases, when we are talking about a Colt SAA is impossible unless he physically removed those rounds from the cylinder and inspected them, which he obviously didn't do based on his own admission.

My guess is that he did nothing to check the gun when it was handed to him other than possibly glancing at the cylinder and is attempting to walk back his incompetence with a weak explanation riddled with inconsistencies.

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
The assistant director says he checked barrel for any obstructions, and something about three rounds.

But to check the barrel in SAA to see if it was clear, you'd have to pull the cylinder out the revolver.

Unless he pointed the barrel at his face. At this point, that wouldn't surprise me.

Ugggh. Posting from phones sucks. Link to article reposted. Sorry!

I picked the wrong day to quit sniffing glue.

I spoke to my prop friend next door at the movie studio and here's what he says.


For a head on shot there are 5 dummy rounds and a single blank round loaded so the camera will pick up the bullet heads of the dummies in the cylinder as the blank round goes off.

Now if the actor is just going to draw and point the weapon, then six dummy rounds are loaded.

The dummy rounds are just lead bullets loaded into primerless shells, otherwise they look identical to live rounds. If they are going have a shot looking into the back of the cylinder to see "live rounds", then they are the blanks, as they have primers.

It is up to the armorer to prep the weapon for the scene and adjust ammunition accordingly.

The gun should be ready with the blank in place for the draw and fire on the single blank.

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
On behalf of whom?

Her family and the assistant director injured.

It happened on a job site.

Would depend if they are employees of the production company or independent contractors

quote:

At the time of the shooting, Baldwin was sitting in a church pew practicing a “cross draw” that required pointing the revolver directly at the camera when the firearm went off, striking Hutchins in the chest and injuring director Joel Souza, 48.

If he was just practicing drawing the revolver, why did he pull the trigger? Assuming the revolver was single action, why was the hammer cocked, if one was just "practicing" the draw? LOTS of unanswered questions.

Why in the world would dummy rounds used in a revolver or even any other gun used in a movie look just like real live rounds.... it seems in this day and age of heightened safety it would be mandatory to have some type of distinction that would not show on film but would be obvious to the gun prop people as well as others in the know?

In his statement, Asst Director Halls admits to handing Baldwin the gun? Baldwin admits to accepting it? That means they both incriminate themselves for violating industry safety protocols. The only person who should hand a gun to the actor is the weapons master. Halls & Baldwin both know that. As soon as the scene is completed, the weapons master collects the gun. The idea is to have as short of chain-of-custody as possible.

If you read the following link, you can see how many layers of safety protocols were broken in order for the homicide to occur.

Actors Equity: Safety Tips for Use of Firearms

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

Originally posted by Greymann:
The assistant director says he checked barrel for any obstructions, and something about three rounds.

But to check the barrel in SAA to see if it was clear, you'd have to pull the cylinder out the revolver.

Unless he pointed the barrel at his face. At this point, that wouldn't surprise me.

After Brandon Lee died, barrel obstructions became a key thing to check for. It’s my understanding that some armorers use a marked dowel rod that they drop down the barrel to check for them.

https://www.foxnews.com/entert...-brought-live-rounds

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza appeared Thursday on the "Today" show, where he discussed the ongoing investigation and noted that the main point that authorities are looking into is how live ammunition made its way to a set that allegedly didn’t require its use.

"I think during the interviews, the focus of the investigation is how the live rounds got there, who brought them there and why they were there," Mendoza explained. "As far as if it’s going to rise to the point of negligence or the point of criminal charges, we’re hoping to work with the district attorney in reference to that so it’s a clear determination if charges should be filed."

Mendoza said during a press conference Wednesday that, despite armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed saying there was no live ammunition kept on set , a live round was recovered in director Joel Souza’s shoulder — that same bullet passed through cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, resulting in her death.

In addition to the bullet removed from Souza’s shoulder, investigators found 500 rounds of ammunition, including a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds.

quote:

Originally posted by Pale Horse:
After Brandon Lee died, barrel obstructions became a key thing to check for. It’s my understanding that some armorers use a marked dowel rod that they drop down the barrel to check for them.

....................................

Didn't know, thanks.

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quote:

Originally posted by bigdeal:
I know what you're getting at but I hate the discussion of placing a dollar value on someone's life. Regarding Ms. Hutchins, no amount of money will change the impact to the life of her son of losing his mother.

Yeah, but all the civil litigation system can do is provide some money.

The criminal justice system can punish, but that doesn't bring a person back either.

Neither is a very satisfactory solution, but it is about all we can do.

Wasn't it Abraham Lincoln that said "Never trust an actor with a gun"?

quote:

Originally posted by Mars_Attacks:
Wasn't it Abraham Lincoln that said "Never trust an actor with a gun"?

Post of the month if not the year! Well done!

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:
The two married women with kids part? The kids could be adopted, or been conceived during a prior relationship with a man, or been artificially inseminated.

None of the above. Look at her picture, you can tell by her inhuman eyes she is a bona fide zombie. Regarding the children, I can't say, but I feel sorry for them whether they're zombies or not.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:
That's the thing, though- Baldwin can never be absolved, no matter who turns out to be the fall guy and no matter who comes to his rescue or how many excuses they make for him.

Oh, he'll delight in playing the victim. After Mr. Lebowski emerges from seclusion in the West Wing, he'll be asked- somberly- to tell the tragic story- somberly- of how he was misled by a mere underling, a filthy commoner.

Doesn't matter. Baldwin is 63. There will not be enough time for this to be far in the past for him. He knows that no matter who forgives him, there is a substantial portion of the American people who will never let him live this down.

He's already been prosecuted and found guilty in our eyes, and he knows it and there's nothing he can do about it.

As it should be. Stupid fuck.

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:

quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
And the press move to absolve AB and blame the process has begun....

Not really: "Mr. Halls, Ms. Gutierrez Reed and Mr. Baldwin didn’t follow the typical standard protocols to ensure a gun’s safety on set..."

Depends on how one views that statement, as said in the bond film Specter, "it just a matter of perspective' its one way to see Baldwin named with others, then again, isn't the point that all three failed following the rules.

Will he be found culpable of the death of a co-worker, or, guilty as a member of a group that didn't follow safety protocols..

I agree Para, regardless of the DA's decision, he'll have to live with the fallout, whatever it may be, nightmares, lack of film opportunity, they pulled his narrated Flint film from viewing, his film career is probably done.

My only point is, sharks don't eat their own, and the press and media will surround him for protection until it gets to the point that turning on him creates revenue...

Poetic justice. Yep.