Alec Baldwin shooting: Rust crew member says he ‘never felt as close to death’ on a set

A Rust camera operator who resigned the day before Halyna Hutchins was shot dead has claimed that unsafe conditions on the set left the entire crew vulnerable.

A former crew member on the film Rust said he “never felt as close to death” on a set as he did in the days before Halyna Hutchins was shot dead with a live bullet, fired by the film’s star, Alec Baldwin.

Lane Luper was the lead camera operator for the production but resigned the day before cinematographer Hutchins was killed on the indie film’s New Mexico set.

In an interview on US TV, Mr Luper said he resigned from the movie over a growing number of issues.

“What I put in my resignation letter was lax Covid policies, the housing situation driving to and from Albuquerque, and specifically, gun safety, a lack of rehearsals, a lack of preparing the crew for what we were doing that day,” Mr Luper said.

Lane Luper (right) pictured with Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust. Picture: Supplied

According to a report in CNN, Mr Luper’s resignation email specifically expressed concerns over gun safety.

CNN reported that in the email, sent to unit production manager Row Walters, Mr Luper noted two accidental discharges of firearms and one accidental discharge of special effects explosives in the days before Ms Hutchins was killed during rehearsal for a scene.

He wrote: “During the filming of gunfights on this job things are often played very fast and loose.

“So far there have been two accidental weapons discharges and one additional SFX explosives that have gone off around the crew between takes.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed said was “still learning,” her role as an armourer on the set of Rust when Halyna Hutchins was killed. Picture: Facebook

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death has rocked Hollywood. Picture: Instagram

“To be clear there are NO safety meetings these days. There have been NO explanations as to what to expect for these shots.”

Mr Luper said he wanted to speak out because, in his opinion, Hutchins’s death was caused by cost-cutting and cutting corners.

“Halyna’s death was so preventable by simply following industry safety rules that had been in place for literally decades,” he told Sky News.

“I have never felt more unsafe on set or off set. I’ve never felt I was more in danger of dying on the set or on the drive home, I was so exhausted.”

Earlier this week, Baldwin appeared to defend accusations that there were poor working conditions on set by sharing a post by Terese Davis, who worked in the film’s costume department. Ms Davis claimed guns were checked on set. She also claimed there were several safety meetings, which Mr Luper said is untrue.

“Even the producers have said that they only had three safety meetings by the time I left the show and that included the day of the shooting. I only personally remember two safety meetings that involved the entire crew. If there was a safety meeting I was left out of it if there were any more than the two,” he said.

Mr Luper added that he is not speaking out about the conditions on set for “personal gain” as some have accused him of.

“There’s no personal gain for me. I’m kind of sticking my neck out here. I don’t want to be on camera. I have a pretty unique perspective in that it’s important that I be a part of safety as the head of the camera department for protecting the camera, protecting the camera operators, knowing what the shot is. It’s very important that I play a role in safety,” he said.

Luper added that he had to take safety classes in Los Angeles in order to get his union card. Ultimately, he called Hutchins’ death the result of a “perfect storm.”

A film worker holds a sign during a vigil for Halyna Hutchins. Picture: Getty Images

“I think with Rust it was a perfect storm of the armourer, the assistant director, the culture that was on set, the rushing, it was everything. It wasn’t just one individual. Everything had to fall into place perfectly for this one-in-a-trillion thing to happen,” Mr Luper said.

The camera professional also described the shooting as a “very rare thing to happen”.

He claimed safety bulletins, which he described as “basically an owner’s manual for how to run a safe set” were “ignored.”

“They were ignored and not attached to the call sheets which they’re supposed to be. Unfortunately that’s what led to a breakdown here,” he said.

As for accusations that there was shooting practices on set, Mr Luper said he didn’t personally “have any experience with that.”

“I don’t know about those claims beyond what was reported in the media. I did hear distant gunfire on the property but there is a nearby national guard armoury so all of us would kind of chalk it up to that. But in hindsight, it could have been,” he said.

Several are still questioning how live rounds made their way onto the set in the first place.

“A lot of things have to go wrong. The very first sentence in the very first safety bulletin about firearm safety is there shall never be live rounds anywhere on a studio lot or stage or set. It’s so unheard of,” Mr Luper added.

He described Hutchins as “a very special person that I really miss working with”.

“She genuinely was something special and this business as a whole is worse off without her,” he said.

– Fox News

Originally published as Alec Baldwin shooting: Rust crew member says he ‘never felt as close to death’ on a set