Ms. Hutchins, 42, was shot and killed on set in New Mexico on Oct. 21 during a rehearsal for a scene that required actor Alec Baldwin to pull a replica of an old-fashioned revolver from a shoulder holster. The gun exploded, firing a bullet that killed Ms. Hutchins and wounded Joel Souza, the film’s director.
Producers, including Mr. Baldwin, have been named in several compensation cases. But their lawyers denied that they had acted recklessly, and Mr Baldwin said he was not responsible for Ms Hutchins’ death because he was convinced the gun did not contain live ammunition and because he was not responsible for ammunition or for safety with firearms on the set. Mr Baldwin’s lawyer, Luke Nikas, said: “Mr Baldwin. Baldwin did not have jurisdiction over the issues that were the subject of the Bureau’s findings, and we are pleased that the authorities in New Mexico have clarified these critical issues.
The Santa Fe sheriff’s office is investigating the circumstances of the fatal shooting, but the findings have not been made public and it remains unclear why live bullets were on the set and how one of them hit the gun Mr. Baldwin was handling. Juan Rios, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, said investigators were awaiting the results of FBI fire and ballistic tests. “Once all the investigative materials have been collected, the sheriff’s investigation will be forwarded to the Santa Fe District Attorney’s Office for review,” he said.
In February, Ms. Hutchins’ family filed a lawsuit in New Mexico for wrongful deaths against crew members and producers, including Mr. Baldwin, accusing the defendants of reckless behavior and cost-cutting measures that endangered the crew, including failure to comply with basic industrial standard safety checks and weapon safety rules. In a statement, Brian Panish, the family’s lawyer, said the New Mexico report “shed some light on workplace safety issues that hit Rust and led to the tragic and fatal events of last October.”
In the report, the bureau said the manufacturing company had not followed national firearms safety guidelines, despite a commitment to do so. According to him, these guidelines require that ammunition should never be carried on the set; that safety meetings are held daily when firearms are used; and that firearms should not be aimed at anyone except in consultation with security personnel. “Failure to comply with these practices has resulted in a loss of life that can be avoided,” the investigation concluded.
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