Cast members from Rust where Alec Baldwin killed Halyna HUTCHINS, cinematographer of Rust last month with a prop gun inadvertently, claim they had an ‘armorer mentor,’ but were not seen while filming.
Seth Kenney (a 51-year old prop expert and veteran of the film industry for over a decade) recommended Hannah Gutierrez-Reed as Rust Armorer. Crew members shared their experiences with the Los Angeles Times.
The newspaper obtained a crew sheet that listed Kenney as an “armorer mentor”, a title which film crew veterans claim is seldom used.
Six people familiar with the filming say Kenney, who owned the PDQ Media Arm & Prop rental company in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, supplied the guns used on set, including the FD Pietta Colt .45 that killed Hutchins.
On October 21, Baldwin fired the gun – which he believed to be ‘cold’ but was instead loaded with a live bullet – while rehearsing a scene, hitting Hutchins in the chest and piercing director Joel Souza in the shoulder.
Hannah Gutierrez, a Rust Armorer, was 24 years old, and recommended by Seth Kenney (armorer mentor), who, according to sources, supplied all of the guns used in the film
According to sources, Kenney was never seen at the New Mexico film set by the Los Angeles Times.
Alec Baldwin killed Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer by mistake, October 21.
Hutchins said, “That wasn’t good.” Eyewitnesses claim that it was not good at all
The incident is still being investigated by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
Gutierrez-Reed lack of experience has attracted much attention, but it seems she was not the only one responsible for creating the weapons in the movie.
One of her key roles on The Old Way was to tell the assistant director Gutierrez-Reed that she needed to fire a gun after she had fired two guns without warning.
The film’s star, Nicolas Cage, reportedly yelled: ‘Make an announcement, you just blew my f**king eardrums out!’ before storming off set, according to grip Stu Brumbaugh.
According to Los Angeles Times, Kenney was joined the Rust crew late in September. However, multiple crew members claim that Kenney never appeared on-set.
According to IMDb the only other film credit for this armorer is as a weapon consultant in Man Down by Shia LaBeouf (2015).
Prior to switching to film, he had been an entrepreneur and owned several businesses in San Clemente with his wife. These included a Cheers stationery shop; Summer House gift shop; and Del Mar Bicycle Co.
Kenney, 51 years old, provided weapons for this independent western movie. He is also credited with being a weapons consultant in Man Down (2015). Above is the entry to Rust.
Gutierrez Reed, who is reportedly the subject of numerous complaints at her prior job and the film The Old Way by Nicolas Cage, has received much media attention.
From 2011 to April 2016, he worked at the Hand Prop Room in Los Angeles, where he helped stock the prop rooms of shows like The Walking Dead and films like Django Unchained.
“He arrived in Hollywood via Orange County in 2011, and was a slam dunk.” Hope M. Parrish, Django property master and Hope M. Parrish said that he first met her when she was at Hand Prop.
“I was looking at the Django weapons and came across him as a salesman in the weapons department.” Nice kid.’
Kenney was eventually sued by The Hand Prop Room in May 2016. They claimed that he stole their guns and had begun to steal their clients.
He had formed PDQ Media Arm & Prop in Georgia four months earlier, though the company eventually dissolved in 2017, according to state records.
The Hand Prop Room asserted in its tortious interference case that Kenney wanted to poach The Walking Dead’s prop master. A zombie series that needs a lot weapons, The Walking Dead requires 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.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, is survived by her son Andros Hutchins, 9, and her husband Matthew
In Mach 2017, the Hand Prop Room decided to disqualify the case.
According to another source close to Kenney, the Hand Prop Room spoke with the LA Times about Kenney’s knowledge in this field. His personality is very personable and he’s great at teaching people who don’t know much about guns.
‘He customized the weapons for whatever load you’re needing, which is very precise, he’s one of the very few who know how to do that. He was a weapon maker for many productions while he was there.
After shooting Hutchins on October 21, Baldwin reportedly asked, ‘What the f**k just happened?’
Hutchins returned to Serge Svetnoy as head electrician. According to interviews by the Los Angeles Times with cast and crew, Joel Souza, director of the film company, also stepped on the stage after having been grazed.
Kenney was the mentor armorer on Rust. He worked in Los Angeles at Hand Prop Room from 2011 through 2016.
He was later sued by the prop shop for poaching clients and taking inventory. But, they eventually dropped their lawsuit.
Perplexed at the incident, the actor had been preparing for scenes that would involve him drawing and firing the prop guns.
Baldwin stated to Souza that he was going to pull the trigger and fire off the shot.
He then pulled out the gun, which David Halls had assured him was safe, and he was told that it was a cold gun.
A live bullet flew from the barrel instead of a blank and struck Hutchins in his chest. She was also fatally wounded by the blast that exited her body, which also penetrated Souza.
‘What the f*** was that? It’s burning! According to reports, the director shouted at the staff during the chaos.
Baldwin was shocked and proceeded with the shooting, casting members revealed. He then looked at his two barbaric colleagues.
‘What the f**k just happened?’ the actor repeated again.
Pandemonium followed.
“Medic!” “Medic!”
Svetnoy said that the cinematographer couldn’t feel her legs.
Crew and cast members tried to stop the bleeding.
The Times revealed that Hutchins looked up at one the workers trying to save her. It was a boom operator.
“Oh, that’s no good,” the sound guy replied, taking into account the extent of his colleague’s injury.
Hutchins answered, “No,” knowingly. “That wasn’t good.” This was absolutely no good.
Just hours after her injury, the cinematographer aged 42 died. Her son Andros, 9 years old, and Matthew Hutchins (9 year-old) are her survivors.
Warrants outlined how Baldwin was allegedly given a loaded revolver.45 by David Halls during rehearsals.
Gutierrez Reed explained that she had verified the weapon contained dummy ammunition earlier in day, and that no live ammo was ever stored on-set.
The bullet hit Hutchins in the chest and went on to strike director Joel Souza in the shoulder
One cameraman quit Rust because of safety concerns and said that Gutierrez-Reed armorer’seemed to be under pressure to hurry’
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Menedoza said that the set contained a mixture of blanks, dummy rounds and real bullets.
Live rounds and dummies can often appear nearly identical.
Authorities were trying to determine who had the gun, before Baldwin took the fatal shot on Oct 21.
The gun was believed to have come into contact at least with four persons in the hour before the shooting. These were Halls, Gutierrez–Reed, Halls, and Sarah Zachry, the prop master for the film.
Cameramen Lane Luper and Gutierrez Reed, both of whom left the production, claimed that they were not experienced in the work of the armory crew.
“It’s fine to use a [low-budget production]It is not a good idea to hire inexperienced employees, but department heads and people who handle firearms should be. It seemed that she was under tremendous pressure to get things done quickly.
Luper Lane has criticized the film’s production as one that created the perfect storm for the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
Rust said, “I believe it was Rust’s perfect storm: the armorer and assistant director, culture on set, the rush, everything.” He also spoke to Good Morning America about what led up the shooting.
Stu Brumbaugh was the grip for The Old Way and stated that GutierrezReed did not adhere to basic gun safety protocol during filming of Rust, just two months prior.
He said that after Gutierrez-Reed discharged a weapon for the second time in three days without warning, Cage yelled: ‘Make an announcement, you just blew my f**king eardrums out!’ He then reportedly fled the scene.
Brumbaugh claimed that he had told GutierrezReed, the Montana assistant director, that GutierrezReed should be fired. It was too fast. We were moving too fast.
He raised his concerns with his supervisors and learned that The Old Way was his first film.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office is still investigating how live rounds ended up on the set of Rust. Above, Hutchins with an unidentified set
Brumbaugh was denied by The Old Way’s producer: “I don’t recall any such event.” When I inquired about my producers, they said the following: ‘I have no such recollection of this event on our set. I asked my partners the same question. They replied: “The details of some of these accounts, especially when they relate to The Old Way, have been exaggerated.”
According to the producer of Old Way, Gutierrez-Reed was a protégée under Jeffrey W. Crow, a veteran property master.
Brumbaugh said that Gutierrez Reed had put the crew in a number of dangerous and unnecessary situations.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer defended Gutierrez-Reed’s role on Rust as an armourer last week.
Her father Thell trained Hannah well, and she worked on her sets since the age of 10. She made every effort to make sure safety was maintained on set.
An attorney commented on the fact that real bullets had been found on-set and stated, “Never in one million years did Hannah ever think that live ammunition could have been contained in the dummy’ round box.”
Her attorney stated that Hannah was being hired to do two roles on the film. This made it difficult for her to concentrate on her armorer job. Production and her own department overruled her pleas for proper training and adequate time for gunfire preparation.
“He’s supposed inspect the guns. He is responsible.” Panicked 911 calls from Alec Baldwin tragedy show how script supervisor blamed assistant cinematographer for the death of cinematographer. However, the gun that had live ammo was not in the arsenal.
Audio recordings of 911 calls by Alec Baldwin’s crew in Rust reveal desperate efforts to save their colleague and accusations of negligence.
Mamie Mitchell was the script supervisor for the film after Baldwin had accidentally shot Halyna Hutchins (42), and Joel Souza (48).
On Thursday, the group was filming in Santa Fe desert, New Mexico for the Western movie when tragedy struck.
Mitchell is a veteran script supervisor whose credits date back to 1974. She calls the assistant director and points the finger at him.
Mitchell called 911, telling the woman that she needs an ambulance to Bonanza Creek Ranch. There have been two instances when people got accidentally shot on movie sets.
Mitchell, who is talking on the telephone with her mother, is telling another person to clear the way so that the ambulance can get to the location.
Mitchell then is taken to Santa Fe fire and emergency medical services. Mitchell sounds distressed and urges for a rapid response.
‘Bonanza Creek ranch. Two people were accidentally killed on the set of a movie by a prop gun.
We need immediate help. Bonanza Creek ranch. You can do it.
Mitchell is then asked for details by the 911 operator.
Mitchell is a veteran actor who can be heard saying “It seems like someone else calls for ambulances.”
“Everybody should. It is time to get some assistance.
“Our director has been shot and our camerawoman is being shot.”
Then, she asks a set member: “Are they going take him to the highway?”
Operator 911 asks, “So, was it loaded using a real bullet?
Mitchell replied: “I don’t know, that’s impossible.” The movie gunshot caused two of our injuries.
While the phone operator is inputting the details, Mitchell can be heard telling someone else: ‘OK, this f****** AD that yelled at me at lunch asking about revisions, this motherf*****.
I said, “Did he see me leaning over my desk and shout at me?” He is supposed to inspect the guns. He has to be held responsible for any incidents.
A Santa Fe court search warrant revealed that one of the guns was among three Hannah Gutierrez had placed on a cart just outside the structure. This was where the scene was being performed.
After accidentally shooting and killing Halyna Hutchins’ cinematographer, Alec Baldwin, an inconsolable Alec Baldwin, is seen, right, outside Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
Baldwin received the gun and assistant director Dave Halls took it out of the cart. He was not aware that it contained live rounds. A detective submitted the search warrant application.
It is not known whether Mitchell was referring Halls in the audio.
The number of rounds fired is not known. Gutierrez took out a shell case from her gun and turned it over to police upon arrival, according to court records.
The 911 operator attempts to reach Mitchell and asks how many were hurt. Mitchell confusedly replies, “No, not, I’m the script supervisor.”
Mitchell replies, “Two” to the operator. While I was practicing, the camera went off. I ran away. All of us went there together, and we doubled up on the camerawoman as well as the director.
Another person hears her say: “They’re clearing the roads, can you return – back to the town or the Western camp?
Mitchell becomes flustered and hand the phone over.
“Hello?” The man responds, “Hello?”
“Hi, there are a few questions that I would like to ask you. The 911 operator asks if you would be able to answer the questions as well. Are they fully alert?
He replied, “Yes, they’re alert.”
When the operator inquires whether the bleeding has been controlled, the man answers: “Let us see if you’re allowed to move closer…” The operator asked if the bleeding was controlled. He replied: “Let’s see if I can get closer…
He may be saying the bleeding cannot be controlled or that it is impossible to stop.
“We have one laid down,” he informs operator. He also mentions that the operators are close to gate 1 and have a van to quickly transport ambulances to their destination.
Baldwin, who is distraught after speaking to investigators on Thursday, can be seen bending over in front of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department
The woman calls back, saying “Hi, this is Bonanza Creek Ranch.” Two ambulances are needed, not just one.
“OK, we are calling someone else now and will get two to you,” replies the operator.
The woman responds, with her voice strained, by saying: “OK. That’s between 10 and 15 minutes.
“I don’t know, we’re getting these right now, to your now,” the operator responds.
“What?” What’s the matter? The woman sounds panicked, as she talks to another person.
“We have 2 ambulances on our way to you.”
“What?” The operator responds with, “What?”
Joel Souza (director of Rust) is seen November 2019 According to reports, he was shot from the shoulder
Operator replies, “You are welcome to come bye.”
Mitchell later claimed she was next to Hutchins during the shooting.
Mitchell stated that he ran outside and dialled 911 to say, “Bring everybody. Send everyone.” Mitchell explained to The Associated Press.
“This woman has died at the start of her career.” She was an exceptional, rare and very rare woman.
Mitchell stated that Mitchell and her crew were at a private service in Santa Fe on Friday.
Baldwin called the murder a “tragic accident.”
“No words can express our shock and sorrow at the tragic accident in which Halyna, Halyna’s mother, was killed, is the only way to describe how we feel. She was a beloved colleague, wife and mother. Baldwin shared his thoughts on Twitter, stating that Baldwin is fully cooperating with police investigations.
“My heart is broken for her husband, their child, and all those who loved Halyna.”
Juan Rios, sheriff’s spokesperson said that Baldwin was allowed to travel and no charges have been filed.
‘He’s a free man,’ Rios said.