On Oct. 21, in Bonanza City, New Mexico, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was fatally shot, and director Joel Souza, 48, badly injured after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a firearm prop during rehearsals.
The prop was handed to Baldwin by assistant director Dave Halls, who, according to Souza, shouted “cold gun” to indicate that it was unloaded before giving it to Baldwin.
The incident is currently being investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau. The production of the movie has been halted indefinitely.
According to Carmack-Altwies, criminal charges have not been ruled out of the case. A third search warrant affidavit filed Wednesday, Oct. 27, revealed that Halls admitted that he “should have checked” all the rounds inside the barrel of the gun but didn’t.
The production’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed showed Halls the gun before resuming rehearsal, where he recounted seeing three rounds in the chamber and that the prop vehicle holding all of the firearms on set had ammo left unsecured on a cart.
There has been a lot of controversy surrounding this situation, with some, such as Donald Trump Jr., using it for political reasons by selling t-shirts that say “guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people.”
Meanwhile, others, such as prop maker Maggie Goll, have called for the industry to improve occupational safety and remove the use of real guns as props.
In addition, Halls has been subjected to strong criticism due to failing to properly check the prop before handing it off as an unloaded firearm. After all, this is not the first time Halls has gotten in trouble for mishandling props.
He was fired off the set of the 2019 movie “Freedom’s Path” after a crew member was injured as a result of a prop gun discharging with live ammunition.
Goll, who worked with Halls on the set of Hulu’s “Into the Dark,” claims that Halls did not maintain a safe working environment, with sets “almost always allowed to become increasingly claustrophobic, no established fire lanes, exits blocked. … Safety meetings were nonexistent,” she told NBC News.
She also claims that Halls neglected to inform the crew prior to filming that there was a live firearm on set, which has called into question Halls’ participation in this tragic event. However, the investigative team leading this case has yet to arrest or charge anyone in the shooting.
Halls released a statement to the New York Post on Monday.
“I’m shocked and saddened by [Halyna Hutchins’s] death,” he said in the statement. “It’s my hope that this tragedy prompts the industry to reevaluate its values and practices to ensure no one is harmed through the creative process again.”
