Through her legal representation, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer on the set of Rust, on which Alec Baldwin accidentally fatally shot camerawoman Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, is now speaking out.
Authorities say the pistol that Baldwin aimed at the camerawoman contained a live round; the actor told investigators he was assured the firearm was “cold,” or empty.
The statement from Reed’s lawyer, Jason Bowles, that was sent to Variety, begins with Reed sending her “deepest and most sincere condolences” to Hutchins’ family, and wishing Souza a “speedy recovery.”
It also states that Hannah is “devastated” by the incident.
The statement then addresses “some untruths that have been told to the media, which have falsely portrayed [Reed] and slandered her.”
The statement continues, “Safety is Hannah’s number one priority on set. Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.”
Investigators say they recovered around 500 rounds of ammunition from the set after the incident, including “a mix” of blanks, dummy rounds and live ammunition.
The statement also addresses allegations made by crew members that some of them were shooting cans during downtime on the New Mexico set.
“Hannah…never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that,” the statement claims. “They were locked up every night.”
However, the lawyer also states, “Hannah was hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer.”
Shifting the responsibility from the 24-year-old, who was only working as an armorer on her second film, the statement contends that Reed “fought for training…and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department.”
The attorneys then alleges, “The whole production set became unsafe,” adding, “This was not the fault of Hannah.”
Investigators say it’s too early to tell if anyone will be charged in the case.
Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
Related Posts
Jennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo, Judy Greer reunite for the 20th anniversary of ’13 Going on 30′
April 23, 2024
Snap Stills/REX/ShutterstockJennifer Garner, Mark Ruffalo and Judy Greer are celebrating 20 years…
Music notes: Dua Lipa, Taylor Swift and more
April 23, 2024
Music videos by Dua Lipa and Tyla will be screened at the upcoming Tribeca Festival, which will…
‘Blink Twice’ trailer: Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut starring fiancé Channing Tatum is here
April 23, 2024
Amazon MGM StudiosThe trailer for Zoë Kravitz's directorial debut, Blink Twice, has arrived.The…
’20 Days in Mariupol’ and ‘STILL: A Michael J. Fox Movie’ among first nominees for 84th Peabody Awards
April 23, 2024
Apple TV+On Tuesday, 41 nominees from the Documentary, News, Public Service and Radio/Podcast…
Apes, together viral: 20th Century Studios not monkeying around with ‘Kingdom of the Apes’ promo stunt
April 23, 2024
20th Century StudiosIn a stunning gag that 20th Century Studios head Steve Asbell rightly predicts…
Harry Styles, Tyla nominated for UK’s prestigious Ivor Novello Awards
April 23, 2024
Erskine/ColumbiaHarry Styles and Tyla are among the nominees for this year's Ivor Novello Awards,…
Now that she’s a mom, Rihanna regrets hitting the red carpet with her “panties out”
April 23, 2024
Larry Busacca/Getty ImagesOver the years, Rihanna has worn her share of stunning red carpet looks —…
Both ‘Mean Girls’ movies coming to 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray on April 30
April 23, 2024
Paramount PicturesGet in, loser, we're going Blu-ray shopping: Both the 2004 original Mean Girls…