Alec Baldwin faces charges – but what about firms involved in Rust shooting?

Actors’ union say it was ‘not a failure of duty’ on performer’s part, but film’s production company is unlikely to face criminal charges

After the deadly accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a Santa Fe movie set in 2021, New Mexico prosecutors have announced impending manslaughter charges against the Rust actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who held the prop gun as it discharged what turned out to be live rounds.

The film’s armorer who prepared the gun, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, will also be charged with involuntary manslaughter, and the production’s assistant director, David Halls, will plead guilty to a misdemeanor charge of negligent use of a deadly weapon, according to the Santa Fe special prosecutor, Andrea Reeb. The exact chain of who handed the gun to whom is disputed by the trio.