Attorneys For “Rust” Armorer Claim Fatal On-Set Incident Could Be A Case Of “Sabotage”

In the weeks following Alec Baldwin’s accidental shooting and killing of filmmaker Halyna Hutchins (and wounding of director Joel Souza) on the set of his movie Rust, the saga that has been trying to figure out what actually happened on that fateful October day has taken many twists and turns. 

Despite reports that Baldwin believed the prop gun he was using on set was loaded with blanks, those looking to make and example of out of the situation, like right-wingers Donald Trump Jr. and Candace Owens, have shed light on the situation, and made fun of the tragedy and Baldwin’s involvement. Meanwhile, Hutchins’ father has maintained that Baldwin should not be blamed for his daughter’s death, and that her killing was a tragic accident. 

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Rumors about reportedly unsafe set conditions, especially concerning guns, have swirled and in the days following the shooting, it was reported that multiple people involved with Rust left the film’s production prior to Hutchins’ death, as they were disgruntled with the lack of gun safety.

Rust armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has come under investigation in recent weeks for her role in the fatal incident. 

Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of all firearms on set, says she has no idea how the live round that killed Hutchins made it into Baldwin’s prop gun, or onto the Rust set at all. 

This morning, Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence attorneys representing Gutierrez-Reed appeared on Today, and said they believe their client was sabotaged.

“We know that people had walked off the set the day before,” Bowles said. “I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say that they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy.” 

Bowles and Gorence continued to explain why and how they believe somebody tampered with the prop firearms on set. Acknowledging that “there was a live round in a box of dummy rounds that shouldn’t have been there,” both attorneys pointed to disgruntled crew members as their prime suspects. 

“We have people who had left the set, who had walked out because they were disgruntled. We have a time frame between 11 [a.m.] and 1 [p.m.], approximately, that day, in which the firearms at times were unattended, so there was opportunity to tamper with this scene,” Bowles said, with Gorence adding that the Rust prop truck “was completely unattended at all times, giving someone access and opportunity.”

Watch Bowles and Gorence’s full appearance on Today below and let us know what you think in the comments. 

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