A staffer from Rust is suing the movie’s armorer and assistant director following last year’s fatal on-set shooting. According to TMZ, medic Cherlyn Schaefer has filed a lawsuit against armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and AD Dave Halls, as well as the film’s production company and other individuals. Schaefer claims that alleged negligence on part of the defendants caused her to experience severe emotional distress in the aftermath of the shooting.
Cinematographer Haylena Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust on Oct. 21, after a prop gun that actor Alec Baldwin was holding, discharged. The gun was initially not believed to be loaded with live rounds. In addition to Hutchins’ death, the incident also wounded the film’s director, Joel Souza. In her lawsuit, Schaefer claims that she was the first to provide medical attention to Hutchins after the shooting. This included applying pressure to her wound, checking her vitals, and providing oxygen. Schaefer also claims that she was the one to call 911, and the one to order a medical helicopter for Hutchins to be transported to a hospital. Notably,
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Following the incident, Baldwin released a statement on Twitter, and later he spoke to a group of photographers who were inquiring about the incident. “A woman died,” he told the group, per Deadline. “She was my friend. She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel, the director. We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.”
During an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Baldwin claimed that he “didn’t pull the trigger” on the gun, stating that he has no idea why or how it fired a live round. This claim has been backed up by Halls. In a previous statement to Good Morning America, Halls’ attorney Lisa Torraco said, “Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger. His finger was never in the trigger guard.”
In his own statement on the tragedy, Halls previously memorialized Hutchins by saying that she “was not just one of the most talented people I’ve worked with, but also a friend.” Halls added, “I’m shocked and saddened by her death. It’s my hope that this tragedy prompts the industry to reevaluate its values and practices to ensure no one is harmed through the creative process again.”
