BURBANK Calif. (NewsNation Now) — A candlelight vigil to honor cinematographer Halyna Hutchins drew more than 500 people to the International Cinematographers Guild in Burbank, California on Sunday.
There is widespread sadness throughout the movie Industry over the loss of Hutchins, who died in last week’s fatal on-set shooting involving actor Alec Baldwin. But there is also anger.
“That weapon should never have been in anybody’s hands except for the armorer,” said Kerry Clemens from the Local 600 union.
Just how a loaded weapon got into the hands of Baldwin remains at the heart of the investigation. Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza injured Thursday by a gun that Baldwin discharged during the filming of “Rust.”
“It doesn’t appear that anybody had any violent intentions or any desires” to cause harm, entertainment lawyer Bryan Sullivan said. “It just seems like a horrendous mistake that should’ve been caught was made.” But Sullivan said it’s possible that Hutchins’ death could result in charges of criminally negligent homicide or reckless endangerment.
There has been no public comment yet from the armorer or the assistant director, who was the one to hand the gun to Baldwin last Thursday.
In a lengthy Facebook post, Serge Svetony, a gaffer working on “Rust,” shared a photo and blamed Hutchins’ death on “negligence and unprofessionalism.”
“I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands.”
Serge svetony
The tragedy was preceded by multiple complaints over work conditions and reportedly, at least two other gun mishaps earlier this month.
Professor of USC Gould School of Law Gregory Keating said the set had problems long before the incident.
Noting that several crew members walked off the set in a protest over labor conditions before the shooting, Keating said, “This was a set that was clearly fraught with problems. Maybe they should’ve shut everything down … when people walked off, but I don’t know if the evidence yet shows it was egregiously unsafe to the point of reckless disregard for human life to keep going.”
There are no charges in the case and production of “Rust” is paused indefinitely. Details are expected to come out later this week from the sheriff’s department in Santa Fe, N.M., near the site where “Rust” was being filmed.