Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is the armorer in set of “Rust,” is suing the film’s ammo supplier, Seth Kenney and PDQ Arm and Prop, while further claiming that she could have prevented the fatal accident that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins if she was allowed in to the rehearsal space.
Gutierrez-Reed in her lawsuit, filed Wednesday by her attorney Jason Bowles in New Mexico’s Second Judicial District Court, alleged that he supplied “Rust”With a mixture live rounds and dummy round that led to the accident at the set. She also claims Kenney knew the code for the gun safe and had access to it. She’s seeking a jury trial.
“Defendants distributed boxes of ammunition purporting to contain dummy rounds, but which contained a mix of dummy and live ammunition to the Rust production,”This is the lawsuit. “Hannah and the entire ‘Rust’ movie crew relied on the Defendants’ misrepresentation that they provided only dummy ammunition. In so doing, Defendants created a dangerous condition on the movie set, unbeknownst to Hannah Gutierrez Reed, which caused a foreseeable risk of injury to numerous people.”
Kenney said that he knew the source of the live rounds and was willing to cooperate with authorities. In October, a new search warrant was issued for Kenney to look into an ammocan that was possibly present at PDQ Arm and Prop and which could have matched the ammunition that was used in this accident. He denied, however, that the live ammunition came from him. All rounds are tested for rattle before they are sent to film sets.
Gutierrez-Reed’s lawyers have also previously asserted that the film set may have been sabotaged. Gutierrez-Reed’s father, Thell Reed, also previously defended his daughter that she “would’ve found”A live round is in the gun
Gutierrez-Reed also criticized Alec Baldwin’s assistant director Dave Halls, but did not name them in the suit. She claimed that she was unable to give Baldwin proper training to learn how to cross draw with the weapon.
“Had Hannah been called back in, she would have re-inspected the weapon, and every round again, and instructed Baldwin on safe gun practice with the cross draw, as was her standard practice on set,”This is how the suit looks. “Hannah would never have let Baldwin point the weapon at Halyna, as part of standard safe gun practices. Apparently, no one inside the Church stopped Baldwin from doing so, including AD Halls.”
Kenney, via a number listed as PDQ Arm and Prop, did not respond to a request for comment.
A thorough investigation is continuing into Hutchins’ October death to determine how live rounds appeared on the set.