'Rust' armorer guilty in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

A jury convicted armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter relating to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film "Rust" in 2021.

US actor Alec Baldwin, a producer and actor on the film, was holding a Colt .45 during rehearsals for the low-budget Western in New Mexico when it discharged a live round, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza

Gutierrez-Reed mistakenly loaded a live round into a reproduction Colt .45 revolver.

The involuntary manslaughter charge against Gutierrez-Reed carries a maximum penalty of 18 months in prison and a $5,000 fine.

Failure of industry safety practices

The jury in New Mexico took just three hours to reach their decision following ten days of testimony.

However, they acquitted Gutierrez-Reed on a second charge of evidence tampering.

The trial had focused on whether the inexperienced armourer endangered fellow crew and cast members in her handling and supervision of firearms on set.

Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer ordered that Gutierrez-Reed be taken into custody immediately.

What led to the fatal shooting?

Just after lunch on Oct. 21, 2021, Gutierrez-Reed mistakenly loaded a live round into a reproduction Colt .45 revolver that actor Alec Baldwin was using inside a movie-set church outside Santa Fe.

Baldwin cocked the gun, pointed it toward the camera and it fired one live bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. Baldwin denies having pulled the trigger.

The prosecution claimed during the trial that Gutierrez-Reed had unknowingly brought live ammunition onto the set of "Rust", claiming that rounds lingered for at least 12 days until the fatal shooting.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another," said New Mexico state special prosecutor Kari Morrissey in her closing statements earlier Wednesday.

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