A crew member on the movie set where Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer has filed a lawsuit against the actor in a Los Angeles court, AFP reported on Thursday.
On October 22, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was shot in the chest by Baldwin while working on the movie Rust. The film’s director, Joel Suza, was injured.
Baldwin had been given a prop gun by an assistant director who said it was “safe to use”, according to court records. The assistant director did not know it was loaded. Authorities have not invoked criminal charges in the matter against anyone.
However, chief lighting technician of Rust, Serge Svetnoy, filed the lawsuit claiming that Hutchins had been killed due to the “negligent acts and omissions” of Baldwin and others.
He claimed that the actor, assistant director Dave Halls and armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed did not follow industry practice on the handling of weapons and “allowed a revolver loaded with live ammunition to be pointed at living persons”.
The technician added in the lawsuit, “Simply put, there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver or to be present anywhere on the ‘Rust’ set.”
Svetnoy said he rushed to help Hutchins after the bullet hit her. “The next 20-30 minutes felt like the longest of plaintiff’s life as he tried to aid and comfort Hutchins, watching helplessly as her consciousness faded inexorably away,” the lawsuit said.
Svetnoy also stated that the bullet narrowly missed him and that he was struck by discharge materials from the blast of the gunshot, the BBC reported.
At a press conference, he claimed that he had seen guns lying in the dirt some days before the shooting, and that he had warned people responsible for them.
Earlier, Halls told investigators that he did not check all the rounds in the gun before handing it to Baldwin, the BBC reported, citing a court document.
On Wednesday, Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers said that she did not know why there was a live round on the set, according to AFP. The lawyers alleged that this was a case of sabotage and Gutierrez-Reed was being framed.
“We are asking for a full and complete investigation of all of the facts, including the live rounds themselves, how they ended up in the ‘dummies’ box, and who put them in there,” Attorney Jason Bowles said.
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