Location manager slams ‘unnecessary and dangerous’ practices before Rust shooting

A location manager has slammed the “unnecessary and dangerous” practices that led to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death.

A crew member who was working nearby has opened up about the tragic accident in which actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, slamming the “unnecessary and dangerous” practices that led to her death.

Location manager Stacey Evans was working with other crew members on another project around 1.6km away from the set when Baldwin discharged a prop gun during filming for the low-budget Western, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

“We didn’t know what was going on, but there were multiple helicopters, police, ambulances … it was terrifying, actually. It’s still even difficult to talk about,” Evans said during an interview with Bridge, Spida & Flan on 92.5 Triple M Gold Coast this morning.

A distraught Alec Baldwin outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's offices after the accident. Picture: Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican

“There are massive protocols to stop these things from happening, there are multiple checks. It starts with the props people and the armorist – their job is to make sure these weapons are safe,” she continued.

The film’s armorist, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been under intense scrutiny since the accident, and it was today revealed the last movie she worked on was briefly stopped after she allegedly gave a gun to an 11-year-old without checking it properly.

But Evans pointed out that Gutierrez-Reed was just one in a number of steps that should have taken place to ensure the gun was being used safely.

“The armorist was very young, she was 24 – does that mean she was the one that messed up? Not necessarily. There are stages: the armorist checks the gun. The assistant director checks the gun. The key grip checks the gun. These are all people that are involved in safety protocols, no matter what’s going on on set. Then, very lastly, the actor checks the gun. There are four to five people in this stage and somehow, there was a failure,” she said.

Halyna Hutchins was tragically killed.

Armorer Hanna Gutierrez-Reed. Picture: Instagram

“This was obviously a real weapon, and this particular weapon was supposed to be loaded with blanks and that is what everyone thought, and it was checked and double checked, and triple checked … supposedly. That obviously didn’t happen and somewhere along the lines it fell through the cracks.”

Evans also gave new insight into the discord on-set before the fatal accident, revealing that “most of the crew” almost went on strike two weeks ago “because of the unsafe work conditions, long working hours and not great wages for everyone.” The strike was averted and “a small deal” was made.

The prolific Hollywood location manager said she viewed the use of dangerous weapons as an “unnecessary” risk on set and hoped this tragedy would spur the industry to change.

The tragedy has posed wider questions about the safety of film and TV sets. Picture: Anne LEBRETON / AFP

“We have CGI, we have green screen, we can do all of these things these days. Why do we actually have to have a weapon that is loaded on a set with all of these people around? It is unnecessary, it is dangerous,” she said.

“We do a lot of dangerous stuff every day – we blow stuff up, we land helicopters in the middle of roads – but this is something that’s unnecessary. Let’s have fake weapons and use CGI.”

Evans’ comments come as disturbing new claims come to light about the safety procedures in place during the making of the film.

A new report claims that the prop gun that killed Hutchins had been used by crew members offsite “for fun.”

Multiple sources connected to the film told TMZ that the gun was fired at off-the-clock gatherings – which may explain how a live round found its way into the gun’s chamber.

Amid the speculation, Baldwin - who is said to be devastated by the tragedy and has reportedly cancelled his upcoming projects - has been photographed visiting with Hutchins’ husband and young son.

Note: Triple M referred to Evans as the location manager for Rust throughout their interview. She was in fact the location manager for another project filming nearby.