The investigation is still ongoing into exactly what happened on the set of the movie Rust that led to the death of Halyna Hutchins. Very little has been said publicly about exactly what happened on the set or how the live round ended up in a prop gun, but the father of the woman who passed away feels that Alec Baldwin is at least partially to blame for the accident on the set.
Anatoly Androsovych had previously stated that he did not blame Alec Baldwin for the death of his daughter, and that he felt the blame was with those responsible for handling the firearms on set. However, The Sun is quoting Androsovych now as saying that he holds Baldwin at least partly responsible, and he finds the actor’s decisions in the wake of the accident suspicious, According to him…
Why did he sweep out his tweets when it became clear the shooting was on rehearsal? And why did he fire the shot during the preparations? The revolver is the type of gun which doesn’t shoot before the trigger is pressed and Alec is partially guilty for causing that shot. It is clear to me Baldwin fired the shot from his hand so it’s hard for me to understand how he cannot be held partly responsible for my daughter’s death.
At the end of the day, it’s certainly true that Alec Baldwin held the gun that fired the shot. Having said that, Baldwin claims he was told the gun was “cold,” meaning there was nothing in the firearm that should have caused even a spark.
One of the issues at hand for Halyna Hutchins’ father is the fact that Alec Baldwin has stated publicly that, while he was holding the gun, he never actually pulled the trigger. In an interview with ABC, Baldwin stated that he simply pulled the hammer back on the gun, while working with Hutchins to get camera angles set. According to Baldwin, it was simply the act of releasing the hammer that caused the gun to go off and fire the shot.
Investigators have been trying to determine just how the live round ended up in the gun in the first place. It’s possible that a mix-up between live and dummy rounds took place even before the rounds made it to the set. Many eyes have been on the on set armorer, who has her own lawyers. They have suggested that a disgruntled crew member may have intentionally placed the round looking to cause an on set accident.
Whether Alec Baldwin will actually be held liable remains to be seen. It’s possible that even though he was holding the gun, it will be found that the terrible accident wasn’t his fault. We'll just have to wait and see.
