(Reuters) – A New Mexico prosecutor on Thursday said actor Alec Baldwin will be charged in a 2021 accidental shooting on a New Mexico movie set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza. Key events leading to Thursday’s announcement:
Oct. 21, 2021 – A gun is fired as Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with it on the set of his movie “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. One bullet hits Hutchins’s chest and Souza’s shoulder. According to a police report, David Halls, the assistant director who handed the gun to Baldwin, did not know it contained live rounds. Halls signed a plea agreement for the charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, the prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a statement. Set armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who had handled the gun before Halls, also faces involuntary manslaughter charges.
Dec. 1, 2021 – “I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin tells ABC News journalist George Stephanopoulos, according to an excerpt released from the actor’s first full interview about the shooting.
Jan. 12, 2022 – Gutierrez Reed in a lawsuit accuses prop provider Seth Kenney and his company, PDQ Arm and Prop LLC, of delivering live ammunition to the set.
Feb. 15, 2022 – Family of Halyna Hutchins files a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin and others responsible for set safety. In addition to playing the lead role, Baldwin served as a producer of the film.
April 20, 2022 – New Mexico’s worker safety agency fines Rust Movie Productions LLC $137,000, the maximum amount possible. An investigation found that the production firm knew firearm safety procedures were not being followed and demonstrated “plain indifference” to the hazards, the New Mexico Environment Department said.
Sept. 27, 2022 – A New Mexico prosecutor says Baldwin is among up to four people who may face charges.
Oct. 5, 2022 – Baldwin and other producers reach a settlement in the wrongful death lawsuit brought by the Hutchins family; production on the film was scheduled to resume in January with Matthew Hutchins serving as executive producer. The production company says later filming will not return to New Mexico.
(This story’s lede and second paragraph have been corrected to clarify that charges have not yet been filed)
(Reporting by Tyler Clifford; editing by Donna Bryson and Jonathan Oatis)
