The film Rust, the deadly shooting

I don't think this should be in the limited access Firearms subforum, and I think it goes beyond Entertainment.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rust_shooting_incident

Many mistakes were made by many people that lead to the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins. I would need to use my laptop to properly write & organize all of my thoughts.

Joel Souza, Director, has to be held largely responsible. He's the director, which makes him the boss, even if he completely delegated serious responsibilities to people claiming to be experienced and/or experts.

Hannah Gutierrez (Reed?), Amorer, also needs to he held largely responsible. Her title indicates she's in charge of the weapons on set. A functioning revolver, which should've been altered stunt revolver, was on set. Live ammunition for the revolver was on set.

Alec Baldwin, lead actor, fired the fatal shot. He has made some statements that make no sense in terms of how the revolver fired. Some comments indicate Bldwin contributed to the overall "loose" way the set was ran. While his general personality and comments rub many people the wrong way, it's very possible he had no idea there was a live round in the revolver.

Somebody who most likely isn't guilty of anything re the shooting, but deserves some heat IMO, is Matt Hutchins. He was very quick to settle out of court, and keep his job on the set.

A perfect storm of indifference, incompetence, and lack of oversight.



Note: My search here didn't find a dedicated thread, but I'm not sure the search results were accurate.

 

Many things bother me, but one stands out:
There were reports, which I think were confirmed, several people on the set were using at least one functioning revolver and live ammo for recreational target shooting.

Edit: I need to research who said/confirmed, incorrectly, the gun Baldwin was about to use was "cold."

 

The husband of the woman killed, Matt Hutchins, settled very quickly and is still employed by the production company. The director was wounded, but I don't see him suing anyone (I wouldn't be surprised if he made a behind closed doors deal).

The amount of shields erected, finger pointing, & CYA reminds me of politics.

 

I've read stories of erosion of protocols in dangerous work situations.
Early on, safety procedures are stricter and taught by unions, for the most part, accidents are mostly eliminated for a generation of workers, next gen sees less or no accidentsand may feel all the lessons arent as serious as previous. Next generation may do the same work in non union workplaces and have no safety training or protocol and just rely on common sence (no such thing with guns, cranes, forklifts etc.) And some people always think they're smart (while in fact their confidence makes them foolish) and thy just do dumb stuff, while it only takes a moment to do it right.

Ive seen this when a safety catch on a crane hook has a broken spring. It can allow the sling to slip out of the hook. But for a few moments the sling stays attached by one end just due to its friction.

Also i was nearly under a coastguard motor surf boat hanging from a crane fixture when the boss, beer in hand, crane controller in the other hand didn't take his finger off the up button. The winch pulled the wire rope/cable right out of the clamps holding the hook on the end. So, a 30 foot long fiberglass boat fell 15 feet with a large steel hoisting fixture following it down and crushing the boat. I was standing about 5 feet to the side where it landed.

Slightly relaxed overtime work and beer confidence smashed a lot of work we had to repair all over again.

Not having accidents for a long time makes people feel over confident and they get sloppy. I see a lot of people these days who pay way more attention to they're "flair" and personal presentation then they ever do learning the actual trade they do. The film industry certainly would tend to attract this kina folk I think.
I remember Jack Nicholson said let the wardrobe act for you (paraphrase) but some jobs are serious and the more flair I see on a new guy the less confidence I have in them till I see how they actually work.

 

Living in SE Houston we're near Pasadena, and not that far Deer Park, & LA Porte (I might as well include the more distant Baytown). All are major petrochemical industry centers. It seems every time there is a major accident the reason is safety procedures were forgotten or intentionally ignored &/or altered.

 

Protocols seem tedious, expensive and time consuming if you haven't seen the results of casual attitudes in serious situations.
I had to learn about safety belts in cars by chipping my front tooth on a steering wheel.
I had to mix concrete with torn glove to learn that it's chemistry can burn me.

I'd been working in metal shops several years before I learned you cant power an air tool with a high pressure oxygen bottle. (I did in a welding class I took on my own ) I guess the oxygen fuels an explosion of the tool and its pretty dramatic. Mainly because its pure oxygen.

A lot of times you need to experience things to respect what your involved in.

Having said that I still grind at work without safety glasses and my own glasses pushed up on my forhead. Before grinders had an internal brake I would stop them with the back of my gloved hand. Grinders have been in my hands for 40 years and I treat them pretty casually. Only once I cut myself and needed stitches. I'll put a vid on utube someday about that.

Alot of this stuff around Rust seems a little nefarious but I kinda think it's just people being relaxed not having seen an accident. A friend of mine shot his pinky off trying to shoot a fly while he was out in the countyside practicing quick draw shooting.

 

Maybe 18 months in prison for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

https://www.reuters.com/legal/rust-armorer-manslaughter-trial-set-closing-arguments-2024-03-06/

The short(er) sentence seems unfair, but I suppose it's mitigated somewhat by the blame being on several people.

 

The case against Alec Baldwin has been dismissed, with prejudice.

I'm not sure he would've been convicted. If he was in fact told the gun was "cold" during the filming, he would've good reason to believe the gun was safe.

So many sloppy lapses by numerous people.