On October 21, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Bonanza City, New Mexico, United States, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set of the film Rust when a live round was discharged from a revolver that actor Alec Baldwin was using as a prop.
The incident was investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, the New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney, the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. In an affidavit, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office stated that neither Baldwin nor first assistant director David Halls knew that the gun in question was loaded. On January 31, 2023, the Santa Fe district attorney charged Baldwin and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed with one count each of involuntary manslaughter. Halls agreed to plead guilty to the charge of the negligent use of a deadly weapon.
On February 23, 2023, Baldwin pleaded not guilty, and on April 20, it was reported that prosecutors had indicated that the charges against him were being dropped. Gutierrez-Reed was later charged with tampering with evidence. On March 6, 2024, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter but was acquitted on the evidence tampering charge. Gutierrez-Reed was then remanded into police custody and sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 15, 2024; she was released on May 23, 2025. On January 19, 2024, Baldwin was again indicted on charges of involuntary manslaughter; he pleaded not guilty. Baldwin's trial began on July 9, 2024, but the charges were dismissed with prejudice three days later over a Brady disclosure violation. The judge found that authorities, in an "intentional and deliberate" manner, withheld evidence from the defense regarding a set of bullets, and that this displayed "signs of scorching prejudice".
The film was eventually released in U.S. theaters in 2025. The incident prompted debates over the use of real guns as props, as well as safety and working conditions on film sets.
Background
The story for Rust was conceived by writer-director Joel Souza and actor-director Alec Baldwin. The Western was produced on a budget of $6–7 million, and its distribution rights were sold for $2 million during pre-production. The production had a filming schedule of 21 days. Principal photography began on October 6, 2021, at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Bonanza City, New Mexico, a ghost town approximately 13 miles (21km) south of Santa Fe.
Responsible for overseeing all weapons on set was the production's property key assistant and armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, stepdaughter of long-time industry armorer Thell Reed. Rust was Gutierrez-Reed's second film serving as lead armorer. On her first film, The Old Way, several crew members complained about her handling of firearms, including an incident in which she discharged a weapon without warning and caused lead actor Nicolas Cage to walk off set.
David Halls was the assistant director. In the aftermath of the incident, former colleagues reported that Halls faced complaints in 2019 about his behavior during the filming of two episodes of Into the Dark; the complaints indicated that he allegedly disregarded safety protocols by ignoring blocked exits and a fire lane. In the same year, Halls had been fired from working on the film Freedom's Path after a firearm discharged unexpectedly on set, wounding a crew member.
On the set of the independent film One Way, a crew member warned producers about Halls's disregard for safety measures and said, "That man is a liability. He's going to fucking kill someone someday, and you're going to be responsible." However, the film's digital imaging technician disputes this claim, saying he knew Halls to be conscientious about safety. The Hollywood Reporter reported a number of complaints raised during the production of 2019's The Tiger Rising, which also featured Rust executive producers Ryan Donnell Smith, Allen Cheney, Emily Hunter Salveson, and Ryan Winterstern.
Union disputes and safety complaints
The beginning of Rust's production came amidst a potential strike by members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) over working conditions and low pay. On October 4, it was announced that IATSE members voted 98.68% in favor of authorizing a strike, with a voter turnout of 89.66% of eligible voters. Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins supported IATSE. She wrote in an Instagram post: "Standing in #IAsolidarity with our @IATSE crew here in New Mexico on RUST."
Some crew members claim firearms safety protocols were not distributed with the call sheets and were not strictly followed on the set. They claim there was no medic present during the construction of the film's sets. Crew members grew upset with what they claimed was a lack of adequate hotel rooms. Crew members alleged producers would only allow the local New Mexico crew courtesy room rentals after working 13 hours "on the clock". Some claimed they were only left with six hours to sleep after long drives home. However, a source close to the production said their union contract indicated a hotel would be provided if the travel distance was more than 60 miles (100 km) and that producers would provide a hotel for crew after 13.5 hours or more on set. The source also claimed that hotels were provided to crew on days they worked 10–12 hours if call time was before 6 a.m. and production wrapped after 7 p.m.
It has been reported that some crew members believe they were mocked for wanting to avoid a one-hour drive from Albuquerque. Several crew members also claimed that they were not being paid on time. A crew member added, "We cited everything from lack of payment for three weeks, taking our hotels away despite asking for them in our deals, lack of COVID-19 safety, and on top of that, poor gun safety! Poor on-set safety period!" Before the incident occurred, two prop guns had previously fired a total of three times unintentionally. Baldwin's stunt double had accidentally fired two blanks when he was told a prop gun was "cold", and the film's prop master shot herself in the foot with a blank round.
In a letter signed by 25 crew members, these claims were disputed. In the letter, the crew writes that they "believe the public narrative surrounding our workplace tragedy to be inadequate and wish to express a more accurate account of our experience". The letter added that "The descriptions of Rust as a chaotic, dangerous and exploitative workplace are false and distract from what matters the most: the memory of (DP) Halyna Hutchins, and the need to find modern alternatives to outdated industry firearm and safety practices." The letter went on to state the following:
"Unfortunately, in the film industry, it is common to work on unprofessional or hectic productions to gain experience and credits. Many of us have worked on those types of productions. Rust was not one of them. Rust was professional. We do acknowledge that no set is perfect, and like any production, Rust had areas of brilliance and areas that were more challenging. While we stand firmly with our unions and strongly support the fight for better working conditions across our industry, we do not feel that this set was a representation of the kind of conditions our unions are fighting against."
Many of the IATSE union rules regarding firearms handling are similar to those of other unions supporting actors, including the Actors Equity and Screen Actors Guild, which cover stage and screen actors respectively.
Events of October 21
Preparations for the rehearsal
On the morning of October 21, 2021, which was to be the twelfth day of filming, seven unionized members of the film's camera crew began collecting their belongings at approximately 6:30 a.m. MT in a walkout. They claim they were told to leave the set, with a producer threatening to call the police, and were replaced with nonunion crew members. According to a statement given to TheWrap by an anonymous insider, several crew members took a number of prop guns off-set that day, including the firearm involved in the incident, to pass the time shooting at beer cans with live ammunition. After a lunch break, the prop guns had been returned. It is not clear if the firearms were checked again. On October 26, the Santa Fe County district attorney said these claims were still unconfirmed.
Later that day, the cast and crew were rehearsing a gunfight scene taking place inside of a church at the Bonanza Creek Ranch. Firearms and ammunition were retrieved from a locked safe and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed placed three guns to be used in filming on a cart. Among them were a plastic gun that could not shoot live ammunition, a modified weapon that could not fire any type of ammunition, and a solid-frame .45 Colt revolver replica made by Pietta.
According to a search warrant, the guns were briefly checked by Gutierrez-Reed, before assistant director David Halls took the Pietta revolver from the prop cart and handed it to Baldwin. In a subsequent affidavit, Halls said the safety protocol regarding this firearm was such that Halls would open the loading gate of the revolver and rotate the cylinder to expose the chambers so he could inspect them himself. According to the affidavit, Halls said he did not check all cylinder chambers, but he recalled seeing three rounds in the cylinder at the time. After the shooting, Halls said in the affidavit, Gutierrez-Reed retrieved the weapon and opened it, and Halls said that he saw four rounds which were plainly blanks, and one which could have been the remaining shell of a discharged live round. In the warrant, it is further stated that Halls announced the term "cold gun", meaning that it did not contain live rounds. Halls's lawyer, Lisa Torraco, later sought to assert that he did not take the gun off the cart and hand it to Baldwin as reported, but when pressed by a reporter to be clear, she refused to repeat that assertion.
Rehearsal and shooting incident
B-camera operator Reid Russell was situated on a camera dolly, looking at a monitor with Hutchins and Souza both nearby. The scene involved Baldwin's character removing a gun from its holster and pointing it toward the camera. The trio behind the monitor were two feet (0.6 m) from the muzzle of the firearm and none of them were wearing protective gear such as noise-canceling headphones or safety goggles.
The trio behind the monitor began repositioning the camera to remove a shadow, and Baldwin began explaining to the crew how he planned to draw the firearm. He said, "So, I guess I'm gonna take this out, pull it, and go, 'Bang!'" He removed it from the holster, and the revolver discharged a single time. Baldwin denied pulling the trigger of the gun, while ABC News described a later FBI report stating that the gun could only fire if the trigger was pulled. Halls was quoted by his attorney Lisa Torraco as saying that Baldwin did not pull the trigger, and that Baldwin's finger was never within the trigger guard during the incident. When the gun fired, the projectile traveled towards the three behind the monitor. It struck Hutchins in the chest, traveled through her body, and then hit Souza in the shoulder. Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell called 911 at 1:46 p.m. MT and emergency crews appeared three minutes later. Footage of the incident was not recorded.
Hutchins was flown by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead. Souza was treated by EMS and transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, where he was admitted and released by the following morning.
As a result of the incident, production on Rust was suspended indefinitely, though co-producer Anjul Nigam was confident the film would resume production once the investigation ended. However, Nigam later clarified that he meant to express optimism and hope, rather than confidence, as he stated that many involved in the production hope to honor Hutchins by completing her final work.
Criminal charges
Investigation
On October 21, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating "what type of projectile was discharged" and how the event occurred. Baldwin was questioned and left without charges filed.
On October 22, Baldwin sent out a tweet expressing his shock and sadness. He also indicated his full cooperation in the ongoing police investigation regarding the incident:
"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."
The Sheriff's Office confirmed the cooperation. On October 22, the Santa Fe County Magistrate issued two search warrants. In an affidavit, the Sheriff's Office said neither Halls nor Baldwin knew the gun was loaded. On October 27, after issuing another search warrant, the department said they had recovered over 600 items as evidence, including 500 rounds of ammunition which were a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and suspected live rounds. They added that a projectile had been recovered from Souza's shoulder, which they categorized as a suspected live round.