Hundreds mourn cinematographer Halyna Hutchins as investigation into film set shooting continues

The shooting occurred as the film crew was rehearsing a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico. The film’s assistant director, David Halls, handed a prop gun to Baldwin and yelled “cold gun,” a remark meant to indicate the weapon didn’t have live rounds, according to an affidavit for a search warrant for the movie set filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office and obtained by CNN affiliate KOAT.

“There’s no reason to have had a firearm that was capable of discharging live ammo on the set,” Steve Wolf, a firearms safety expert, told CNN Saturday. “A prop gun is a gun that’s been specifically manufactured for shooting blanks, not bullets. In fact, the bullets won’t fit into a gun that’s been modified properly, only blanks will fit into it.

“And that’s a safeguard to ensure that live ammo is not loaded into guns that are used on set. So if you don’t use the right type of gun, you’re not going to get the safety benefit that’s been engineered into it,” Wolf said.

Saturday’s vigil at Albuquerque Civic Plaza was organized by IATSE Local 600 and IATSE Local 480, chapters of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees union — which represents workers in various roles in the entertainment industry.

“Our entire alliance mourns this unspeakable loss with Halyna’s family, friends, and the Rust crew,” the union said in a statement. “Creating a culture of safety requires relentless vigilance from every one of us, day in and day out.”

The investigation into how the shooting happened is ongoing.

Before the shooting, some crew members quit over safety concerns on set — including gun inspections and Covid-19 protocols not being followed, according to the Los Angeles Times and other media reports.

There were previous accidental prop gun discharges on set, report says

Three crew members who were on the set last weekend told the Los Angeles Times there were two accidental prop gun discharges before Thursday’s fatal shooting.

On October 16, Baldwin’s stunt double unintentionally fired rounds after he was told the gun was “cold,” two of the crew members, who witnessed the discharges, told the newspaper.

The film’s production company told Deadline in a statement that it was not notified of official complaints regarding weapon or prop safety on set.

“We will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down,” Rust Movie Productions, LLC said in a statement. “The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company.”

CNN has made multiple attempts to reach Rust Movie Productions for comment but has not received a response.

The armorer who prepared the prop gun used by Baldwin was identified as Hannah Gutierrez in the search warrant issued following the shooting.

Gutierrez had recently finished work on her first project as head armorer, she said in a September podcast interview.

“I was really nervous about it at first,” Gutierrez said of working as head armorer on the set of the movie “The Old Way,” starring Nicolas Cage.

“I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but doing it, like it went really smoothly,” she said in an interview on the Voices of the West podcast, which is dedicated to the Old West.

Her work as armorer ranges from teaching actors how to wear a gun belt to aiming and shooting, she said.

“I think when someone is new and not sure, that’s fine. We all start somewhere,” Wolf, the firearms safety expert said. “But you work under somebody’s tutelage and you’ll practice until you have mastery,” he added.

Film production community deeply impacted by Hutchins’ death

Many of the mourners at the vigil for Hutchins were members of the television and film industry.

During the vigil, Rebecca Stair, a location manager and a member of IATSE Local 480, told CNN she wasn’t a crew member on “Rust,” but knew everyone on set.

“My heart’s been shaking for days, my phone has been going off with all kinds of friends who are going through something similar,” Stair told CNN. “My friend who was the transport coordinator had to stay until 11 o’clock at night arranging shuttle rides home because nobody could functionally drive.”

Stair became emotional discussing safety concerns in the industry and burst into tears, saying “a child should have a mother,” referring to Hutchins’ 9-year-old son.

Jolynne Nieto, another IATSE Local 480 member, told CNN she was hired to work as a hairstylist for “Rust,” but she turned down the job over safety concerns. One of her main concerns involved housing for crew members, which was in Albuquerque — 50 miles from the film set in Santa Fe, which would add a long commute to an already long workday.

“They told me the terms were non-negotiable on housing which was in Albuquerque while it was being shot at a ranch in Santa Fe, and I felt at this point like we needed to think about safety,” Nieto told CNN. “There was just a few other little glitches that just felt very funny to me.”

Nieto said Hutchins’ death is “unbearable.”

“You don’t expect to leave work and not come home — it’s unthinkable, it’s unbearable,” Nieto told CNN. “We need to take gun safety on film sets more seriously.”