According to court papers filed Tuesday, the fatal shot Alec Baldwin fired at Rust’s set, inadvertently killing Halyna HUTCHINS, could have been a homemade gun that an armorer from New Mexico supplied. The ammunition had previously been used by actors to practice firing on a shooting range.
An affidavit from the Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Office states that detectives are looking into the possibility that Seth Kenny – a Hollywood veteran of 51 years who was supposed provide blanks and dummy shots for the movie – may have used recycled bullets left over from an earlier set. They are still investigating Hutchins’ murder and have not filed any criminal charges.
New Mexico investigators were granted permission to search Kenny’s business PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC, an ammunition store in an Albuquerque strip mall, to determine if the bullet that killed Hutchins matches any Kenny has in stock, according to the Los Angeles Times.
According to the warrant Kenny contacted authorities in late December and said that the live ammunition on the set could have been made from ‘handmade reloaded cartridges’ that he had received from a friend years back. This, KOAT 7 reported.
Court documents suggest that the bullet Alec Baldwin used to accidentally kill Halyna Hutchins, a cinematographer on Rust’s set, may have been an accidental shot.
Detectives have approved a search warrant for Seth Kenny’s investigation. This 51-year old Hollywood veteran was meant to provide the film with dummy round. Kenny also mentored the film’s rookie armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, pictured above
Kenny claimed that the ammunition was’stuckout to him’ due to the suspect live round having a cartridge with Starline Brass logo, according to the affidavit.
Gutierrez Reed stated to sheriff’s officers that the ammunition used in ‘Rust” was from several sources including Kenney. Other crew members identified another man only as “Billy Ray”. There is no further information about Billy Ray’s identity.
Gutierrez Reed’s father Thell Reed was a respected Hollywood weapon expert and told a detective that Kenny had trained him at a firing range.
Reed stated that Kenney advised him to take live.45-caliber Colt ammunition with him in case they run out and had to use it. Reed had an ‘ammo container’ with between 200 and 300 rounds. He added that some were not made by a factory.
Kenny took the ammo bottle back to New Mexico. Reed attempted to return the ammunition but Kenney insisted that Reed get it. Reed said this to Reed. Kenney’s comment is not known.
According to the affidavit, ‘Thell’ stated that this ammunition could match the ammunition on the set of Rust.
According to them, Kenny may have used live ammunition in a film to train actors before it reached Rust. There it was mistakenly placed with the gun Baldwin shot at Hutchins.
Hutchins’ October 19, 2021 Instagram photo showed cast members, staff, and Baldwin (circled from left to right on set of Rust, Santa Fe, New Mexico).
Authorities believe they finally have an answer as to how a live round came to be in the firearm
Gutierrez Reed stated that she checked the guns on-set, but did not check Baldwin’s on October 21 because it was still locked in its safe after lunch. The gun had been locked in a safe during lunch hours, which she said caused her difficulty loading it.
“Hannah said there was one round that would not go in so she went to lunch and took out the cleaner. She cleaned it out and then put in another round, which made the total of six rounds into the weapon,” Sheriff’s Detective Alexandria Hancock stated in the affidavit.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer stated previously that Gutierrez Reed was mistaken to believe any rounds were live, as live ammunition is not permitted on set.
Sarah Zachry was the prop master for the movie and immediately noticed some cartridges were not vibrating.
Because they have powder inside the cartridges with a ball bearing, dummy rounds are easily distinguished from live rounds. They make a distinctive rattling noise when shaken.
Los Angeles Times sources claim that Kenney never visited the New Mexico set of the movie Kenney.
‘What the f**k just happened?’ Baldwin asked crew and cast members questions after the shot was fired. Hutchins then suddenly returned to Serge Svetnoy’s arms.
The affidavit states that Sarah said she was led to believe the rest of the ammunition in the box contained live ammo.
According to crew members, Seth Kenny recommended GutierrezReed for the job. Also, the Los Angeles Times obtained a leaked crew sheet that lists Kenney in the role of an ‘armorer mentor’, a title which film crew veterans claim is seldom used.
The Rust crew was officially added to Kenney in late September according to Los Angeles Times. But, several crew members have claimed that Kenney has never been on set.
Kenney, however, has stated to The Los Angeles Times for the first time that he wasn’t an ‘armorer mentoring’ man and that the crew had used this title “erroneously”.
According to Kenney’s Nov. 19 statement, ‘Seth Kenney did not serve as the Armorer Mentor’, nor was he in any other capacity at ‘Rust.’ Prior to the tragedy, he had never served in the setting or in the production office.
‘PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC provided the guns, Blanks and a portion of Dummy Rounds to ‘Rust.’ The statement stated that PDQ had not provided Live Ammunition for “Rust” in accordance with safe industry standards.
Many former crew members expressed concern about their work environment in the weeks after the shooting.
Mamie Mitchell, the script supervisor, announced two weeks ago that she would sue the actor. She accused him of “Russian Roulette” when he shot a gun at his character without first checking that it wasn’t loaded.
Gloria Allred, Gloria Mitchell’s attorney, laid out the lawsuit against Mamie Mitchell regarding the shooting. The suit includes assault, infliction or emotional distress, and infliction/infliction harm.
The suit names 22 defendants associated with the film, including Baldwin, Rust producers, six production companies – El Dorado Pictures, Thomasville Pictures, Short Porch Pictures, Brittany House Pictures, 3rd Shift Media and Streamline Global – armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, First Assistant Director David Halls and others.
Mitchell was a veteran of the industry for 40 years and stood close to Hutchins at the time Baldwin shot her gun. Joel Souza, who was later injured in an accident, is now the director.
This suit alleges assault and intentional infliction emotional distress. The suit also claims that the shooting scene did not need a gun.
“I ran outside and dialed 911. I said: “Bring everybody. Send everybody Mitchell.” This woman has died at the start of her career. She was an exceptional, rare and very rare woman.
Serge Svetnoy was the electrician who died holding Hutchins’ body in his arms. He also sued Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed, and David Halls, an assistant director, for’severe emotion distress’ following the shooting.
Svetnoy, along with the other crew members who are unnamed, filed suit against them alleging that they were negligent in causing the shooting. This caused him emotional turmoil.
Svetnoy said in court papers that the bullet almost hit director Joel Souza, 48.
He claimed that Halyna’s bleeding was so severe that she needed to be treated immediately and that he tried his best to keep her awake.
He told TMZ that he’s suing Baldwin because he ‘owed a duty to the Plaintiff and other crew members and actors on the “Rust” set to handle the Colt Revolver provided to him by Defendant Halls with reasonable care and diligence for the safety of “Rust” cast and crew.’
Serge Svetnoy was the head electrician at Rust Movie Set (left), and he held Hutchins (right) tightly in his arms. Baldwin, Gutierrez Rice (Rookie Armorer Gutierrez—Reed) were sued by Halls as a result of’severe emotions distress’ that they suffered after the tragic shooting.
Lane Luper was the A-camera’s first assistant. He said that he left the job one day prior to the shooting due to overwork, poor gun safety, and COVID-safety not being properly enforced.
Rust believes that it was the perfect storm, according to him, of Rust the armorer, Rust the assistant director and the culture present on the set. The rushing was also a factor. Good Morning America interviewed him on the subject of the tragic shooting.
“It was not just one person. It took everything to come together for the one-in-a trillion thing to occur.
Luper stated that two gunshots were accidentally fired on the set, and that one sound-effects blast was heard around the crew.
There were NO instructions on what they should expect. Luper stated in the letter that production personnel are often asked the same questions about their lack of time or “this is 21-day shoot” when they ask them.
The crew became tired of the long commutes between the set and their accommodation, which took them more than two hours.
Luper explained that she’s never been a camera assistant who cared so much about the safety of crew members in her 10 years.
Sky News was contacted by a representative of the producers to refute his assertions. He stated: “Mr. Luper’s accusations about budget and safety were patently false. It is no surprise considering that Luper was a camera operator and had nothing to do or know anything about budgets or safety protocol.
“As long as we cooperate in all investigations, it is limited what we can tell you,” the spokesperson said. ‘However, safety is always the number one priority.’