Alec Baldwin
Three previous misses: Just hours before the gunshot accident, employees quit because of shooting conditions
Alec Baldwin shortly after testifying to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on Friday
© Jim Weber / Santa Fe New Mexican / DPA
An improperly prepared film pistol cost a camerawoman her life. She fired Alec Baldwin. Now it comes out: Shortly before that, employees had stopped work due to the shooting conditions.
It is a tragic accident: while filming the western “Rust”, actor and producer Alec Baldwin fatally hit camera woman Halyna Hutchins with a shot from a weapon prop that was actually rated as safe, and director Joel Souza was also injured. But apparently the accident did not come out of nowhere: shortly beforehand, employees had left the set and given their notice.
The “Los Angeles Times” reports, citing internal sources. Accordingly, on Thursday, a few hours before the accident, half a dozen employees left the location on the Bonanza Creek Ranch in the US state of New Mexico. According to the newspaper, three people involved, who wanted to remain anonymous, reported that the employees were concerned about the poor shooting conditions.
Alec Baldwin’s stunt double has accidentally fired shots
According to the sources, among other things, the camera crew complained about the working conditions on the set of the low-budget western. There were complaints about too much overtime, problems with pay and the long way to the set. But security also played a role.
Because the fatal gunshot accident was not the first incident involving firearms on the set. According to the report, Alec Baldwin’s stunt double accidentally fired two shots on Saturday last week when the gun shouldn’t have been loaded. The gun had been declared “cold”, which in Hollywood industry jargon means that there shouldn’t be any cartridges in the gun. Not even blank cartridges. The pistol fired in the fatal accident had also been rated loudly as “cold” beforehand.
“This is super insecure”
The first incident caused unrest within the film crew about the handling of the weapons and the lack of security measures. “There should have been an investigation into how it could come about,” said a Times employee. “But there weren’t even any safety meetings. There was no assurance that something like this couldn’t happen again. They just wanted to be quick, quick, quick.”
One of the employees is said to have raised the problem with his supervisor via SMS. “We have now had three accidental shots. That is super-unsafe,” said the news that the newspaper should have received. It is not known to which third shot the message described before the fatal accident relates. However, the production company stated in a statement that they had no knowledge of any complaints about safety on the set from the problems up to the fatal accident.
Source: Los Angeles Times