AN ACCIDENTAL shooting resulted in the end of one cinematographer's life.
After Alec Baldwin was in connection to Haylna Hutchins' death, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was convicted as well.
Who is Hannah Gutierrez-Reed?
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was the head armorer on the film set for the Joel Souza-directed project Rust.
She is the daughter of long-time film industry armorer Thell Reed.
On January 19, 2023, Gutierrez-Reed was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter in connection to Halyna Hutchins' death.
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Alec Baldwin was also charged in connection with the case and pleaded not guilty.
On March 6, 2024, Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
However, the charge of tampering with evidence was dismissed.
Nearly a month later, on April 15, Gutierrez-Reed was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
According to NBC, the judge who sentenced Gutierrez-Reed said she showed a lack of remorse.
"Your attorney had to tell the court you were remorseful," she said.
"You were the armorer who stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. For you, she would be alive."
How was Hannah involved in Halyna Hutchins' death?
According to a warrant from the police's investigation, the gun from Hutchins' tragedy was already loaded with a live round when it was handed to Baldwin.
The warrant, obtained by the Associated Press, said that an assistant director handed the gun to the actor and told him that it was "cold" before he fired it.
The weapon fatally struck the cinematographer and injured director Joel Souza.
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It also said that the assistant director was not aware that the gun was loaded.
The gun that was fired was one of three laid on a cart by Gutierrez-Reed.
Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart, believing it was unloaded, and brought it inside to Baldwin, who was filming a scene.
The armorer was described as being “inexperienced and green” by a Rust production source.
They explained that there were at least two previous incidents of guns being unsafely discharged by other crew members before the tragic incident.
What does an armorer do?
Armorers supervise all use of weapons on production sets for movies, TV programs, or stage shows.
They also provide instructions to actors on how to properly and safely use them.
What has Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said about the Alec Baldwin shooting?
On behalf of Gutierrez-Reed, her legal team released a statement extending her apologies and condolences.
"First Hannah would like to extend her deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Halyna," the statement read.
"She was an inspirational woman in film who Hannah looked up to. She also offers her thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery to Joel.
"Hannah is devastated and completely beside herself over the events that have transpired."
They added: "Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced.
"Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from. Hannah and the prop master gained control over the guns and she never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that."
She claims the guns were locked up "every night and at lunch" and there was no way any of them were unaccounted for or being shot by crew members, insisting she has never had an accidental discharge.
"The first one on this set was the prop master and the second was a stunt man after Hannah informed him his gun was hot with blanks," the statement went on.
"Hannah was hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer.
"She fought for training, days to maintain weapons, and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department."
"The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including a lack of safety meetings. This was not the fault of Hannah."
The statement came after a family source told The Sun that she is "heartbroken" and concerned she'll never work again in the industry.
Before the shooting, Gutierrez-Reed told a podcast about her first job as a head armorer on Nicolas Cage's film, The Old Way, revealing she wasn't sure if she was "ready" for it.
Following the incident, Gutierrez-Reed removed her Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok accounts after images emerged of her toting guns.
Sources have said that she deleted her social media accounts, including one under the name "no_son_of_a_gun" on legal advice following the tragic shooting.
