Image Source: The New York Times, WJBF

The family of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins who lost her life during a fatal shooting incident on the sets of ‘Rust’ is demanding justice and actor and producer Alec Baldwin is under the radar. 

Halyna Hutchins’ family (husband and son) is suing actor Alec Baldwin who was holding the Colt revolver (prop gun) on the New Mexico’s set of his movie, Rust where he accidentally shot and killed her last October.

Brian Panish who is representing Halyna Hutchins’ husband Matthew Hutchins and their nine-year-old son said that Alec Baldwin who is also the producer of the movie along with others who were responsible to maintain the safety on the sets have ‘committed major breaches of industry protocols which lead to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins’. Brian Panish stated that his firm had conducted an independent investigation in the matter and found out that there were a lot of violations of an industry that took place by the actor and the other defendants that includes, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, assistant director David Halls, and several production companies attached to the project.

According to the lawsuit, "Halyna Hutchins deserved to live, and the defendants had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present instead of cutting corners on safety procedures where human lives were at stake, rushing to stay on schedule and ignoring numerous complaints of safety violations."

Alec Baldwin post the fatal shooting incident on the sets of Rust in October. Image Source: The Today Show

Brian Panish claims, “There are many people culpable, but Mr. Baldwin was the person holding the weapon … that but for him shooting, she would not have died.” He also said that the nine-year-old son who lost his mother is a young boy who will never have a mother figure in his life and Halyna’s husband Matthew is grieving. He adds, “Matt understands that a lawsuit is needed to get answers. He wants answers, he wants closure." Brian said that the video footage that was presented showcased that Alec Baldwin refused to train for the kind of gun draw he was doing when the incident that killed Halyna took place. The lawsuit also claims that Baldwin never checked the gun himself for ammunition before using it.

Attorney Aaron Dyer, a representative for Alec Baldwin and other Rust producers said, "Everyone’s hearts and thoughts remain with Halyna’s family as they continue to process this unspeakable tragedy. We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the ‘Rust’ set in the first place. Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false. He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ – meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone. Actors should be able to rely on armorers and prop department professionals, as well as assistant directors, rather than deciding on their own when a gun is safe to use.” 

Halyna Hutchins' family wants justice. Image Source: CNET

Lane Luper, camera assistant at Rust raised the questions of red flags on the sets of Rust and said while appearing on Good Morning America, “I think with Rust, it was the perfect storm of the armorer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set, the rushing. It was everything.” He mentioned that there were only two safety meetings on the set and the production did not care enough about gun safety.

In an interview with ABC, Alec Baldwin spoke about the first time what had happened on the sets in October and said, “Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but it's not me. I didn't pull the trigger. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”  Alec added, "I don't know what happened on that set. I don't know how that bullet arrived in that gun. I don't know. But I'm all for doing anything that will take us to a place where this is less likely to happen again.” He also claimed that Halyna had asked him to point the gun just off the camera and towards her armpit. Alec Baldwin mentioned that she was someone everybody loved and admired and he felt a certain amount of sadness.