Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer at the set of Western “Rust” where actor Alec Baldwin had fatally shot cinematography Halyna Hutchins and injured Joel Souza, who recovered since, has filed a lawsuit against Seth Kenney and his company PDQ Arm and Prop LLC for allegedly supplying the live bullet that killed Hutchins. She also blames Alec Baldwin and assistant director Dave Halls but does not name Baldwin as a defendant.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said that the 63-year old actor had ignored a request to take part in a “cross bow” training session. She said that the request had been made to Alec Baldwin about a week before the fatal shooting.
The armorer also alleged that David Halls, who was the assistant director on the set of the movie “Rust”, did not tell her that they would be working on a scene that would involve a gun. So, she had moved away from the set, when the fatal live ammo flew from the gun and killed Hutchins.
Hutchins died on October 21, as an antique Colt pistol went off on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set of “Rust.” The live bullet hit the cinematographer in the stomach and grazed the shoulder of the director. Alec Baldwin said that he had not pulled the the trigger and it went off by itself. Assistant director Dave Halls had shouted “cold” gun before handing the weapon to Baldwin. A cold gun is supposed to have blanks and not live ammo.
Late Wednesday, the lawsuit was filed by Gutierrez-Reed in New Mexico’s 2nd Judicial District Court in Albuquerque. It alleges that Kenney and his company PDQ violated New Mexico’s Unfair Trade Practices Act as they introduced dangerous products to the set. It also says that they provided ammunition with “false label representation.”
The 24-page lawsuit also details the incidents that took place and certain lapses that occured on the sets of the low budget Western, “Rust.”
Gutierrez-Reed’s suit also alleged that Keeny wanted to shift the blame to her. The suit said that he tried to tamper with the investigation as it still an ongoing one. She was also described as a low-level employee and more in the suit.
