LOS ANGELES (NewsNation Now) — Mincing no words and speaking from the heart, a “Rust” movie staffer accused movie producers of putting savings above safety in an emotional Facebook post.
The film’s chief electrician Serge Svetnoy blamed producers for cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death. Hutchins was shot and killed last week on the New Mexico movie set after an assistant director unwittingly handed movie star Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use.
The gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger Thursday on the set of a Western, he killed Hutchins. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded, the records said.
Svetnoy said he had worked with Hutchins on multiple films and faulted “negligence and unprofessionalism” among those handling weapons on the set. He said producers hired an inexperienced armorer.
“I want to tell my opinion on why this has happened. I think I have the right to do it. It’s the fault of negligence and unprofessionalism,” Svetnoy said in part. “The negligence from the person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this; the person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; the person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it. And the DEATH OF THE HUMAN IS THE RESULT!”
Svetnoy said he was standing next to Hutchins when the shooting happened and that she died in his arms.
Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office in Santa Fe, N.M., after he was questioned about a shooting on the set of the film “Rust” on the outskirts of Santa Fe, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, officials said. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)
This photo provided by Jack Caswell shows director of photography Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Archenemy” on Dec. 17, 2019, in Los Angeles. Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin Thursday on the New Mexico set of the western film “Rust.” Authorities continue to investigate the shooting but there are no allegations of wrongdoing by Baldwin. (Jack Caswell via AP)
This photo provided by Adam Egypt Mortimer shows cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of “Archenemy” in January 2020 in Los Angeles. Hutchins was fatally shot by Alec Baldwin Thursday on the New Mexico set of the western film “Rust.” Authorities continue to investigate the shooting but there are no allegations of wrongdoing by Baldwin. (Adam Egypt Mortimer via AP)
This aerial photo shows a film set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of a Western being filmed at the ranch on Thursday, Oct. 21, killing the cinematographer, officials said. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Bonanza Creek Film Ranch is seen in Santa Fe, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. An assistant director unwittingly handed actor Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
The Bonanza Creek Film Ranch is seen in Santa Fe, N.M., Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021. An assistant director unwittingly handed actor Alec Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fatally shot a cinematographer, court records released Friday show. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Private security stand at the entrance of the Bonanza Creek Film Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., Friday, Oct. 22, 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of a Western being filmed at the ranch on Thursday, Oct. 21, killing the cinematographer, officials said. The director of the movie was wounded, and authorities are investigating. (AP Photo/Andres Leighton)
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The gun was one of three that the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted, according to the records. Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application.
Guns used in making movies are sometimes real weapons that can fire either bullets or blanks, which are gunpowder charges that produce a flash and a bang but no deadly projectile. Even blanks can eject hot gases and paper or plastic wadding from the barrel that can be lethal at close range.
Production on the movie has stopped and the incident remains under investigation.
