Alec Baldwin – Rookie armorer is ‘lawyering up’ after Halyna Hutchins shooting as worried friends say she’s ‘gone dark’
THE rookie armorer in charge on Alec Baldwin’s movie Rust is “lawyering up” after he accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead – as worried friends say she has “gone dark”, The Sun can reveal.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who has been described as “green and inexperienced” by former co-workers, is laying low as her family frantically search for the right lawyer to represent her.
A source close to the 24-year-old exclusively told The Sun: “Her family are supporting her and helping her look for a good lawyer – they feel she’s going to need one.”
Halyna’s father insisted Baldwin was not responsible for her shocking death – and instead blamed the movie armory team who handed the actor a loaded Colt revolver.
Anatoly Androsovych told The Sun Halyna’s young son had been “badly affected,” by her death, adding that her husband Matthew will be deciding whether or not to take legal action.
Insiders have told The Sun armorer Reed has “gone dark” and is “not ready to talk” about the tragic incident in Santa Fe, New Mexico – where she is still believed to be staying amid an investigation.
“A mutual friend reached out and she said she wasn’t ready to talk, and naturally we don’t know what happened and who was negligent,” one friend said.
“It’s unfair to make assumptions.”
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The Sun has reached out to Reed and her family who declined to comment.
A former co-worker described the situation as “heartbreaking” after The Sun also revealed Hannah has shut down all of her social media accounts, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok.
Read our Alec Baldwin shooting live blog for the very latest news and updates…
They said: “I’m so worried for everyone involved. I imagine on a set that wasn’t running well it would have been hard for Hannah to demand the authority she needed to do her job well.
“Or to demand ADs to respect the typical path, from the film’s armorer straight to the actor. It sounds like a mess, and I encourage withholding judgment and supporting everyone.”
Before working on Rust, she was head armorer on The Old Way with Nicolas Cage, his first Western, and previously worked at Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana.
An ex co-worker who was on set with Reed at both locations told The Sun: “She seemed like she was very goal-oriented and could hold her own.
“I’m sure that she had that chip on her shoulder, you know, being so young and wanting to prove herself.
“I had gotten an email [about the shooting], but I didn’t realize that it was Hannah.
“I personally don’t know how I could continue with my life … looking towards any sense of normalcy after something that horrific.
“I have mixed emotions as we all make mistakes. Unfortunately in her line of work, you can’t make mistakes.
“I’m just trying to wrack my brain around why there was any live ammunition because you’re not supposed to have it in any scene. And on any movie set, it’s a huge violation.”
They added: “I just don’t understand how you pick up the pieces after something like this.”
POSSIBLE LAWSUIT
Speaking on Voice of the West podcast last month, Gutierrez-Reed discussed working on The Old Way, and admitted she almost didn’t take the job, her first as head armorer, because she wasn’t sure if she was “ready” for it.
She said: “It was a really bada** way to start off a really long and cool career, I’m hoping. I just finished up working on The Old Way with Nicolas Cage, his very first Western.
“It was also my first time being head armorer as well. You know, I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but, doing it, like, it went really smoothly.”
Speaking about her dad, who helped to train her up, she continued: “He took me from being completely green and taught me everything I know so far and by all means, I am still learning.
“Dad has taught me everything but a lot of things I just kind of caught on by myself through observation, watching him do things or just knowing how the firearms work.
“I think loading blanks was the scariest thing to me because I was like “oh I don’t know anything about it.”
A search warrant seen by The Sun says assistant director Dave Halls handed the gun to Baldwin and told him that it was “cold” before he fired it, fatally striking Halyna and injuring director Joel Souza.
Halls allegedly had no idea the gun was loaded and it was one of three laid on a cart by Reed, according to the document.
Production sources on her last movie told The Daily Beast filming was briefly stopped after she allegedly gave a gun to an 11-year-old actress without checking it properly.
“She was reloading the gun on the ground, where there were pebbles and stuff,” one source told the outlet. “We didn’t see her check it, we didn’t know if something got in the barrel or not.”
‘GREEN AND INEXPERIENCED’
Reed reportedly handed the gun to child actress Ryan Kiera Armstrong, forcing concerned crew members to intervene, and it was then checked for barrel obstruction, according to the report.
“She was a bit careless with the guns, waving it around every now and again,” a source said.
“There were a couple times she was loading the blanks and doing it in a fashion that we thought was unsafe.”
A Rust production source described Reed as “inexperienced and green,” alleging that there had been two other incidents of accidental discharges by crew members.
Assistant director Halls has also been slammed for his behavior on set by former co-workers and was reportedly fired from his role on the movie Freedom’s Path in 2019.
He was on set when a gun fired unexpectedly, injuring a sound crew member who had to seek treatment.
Rock Soul Studios, the company that produced the movie, confirmed to CNN they terminated his contract as a result.
The Sun has repeatedly reached out to Hall who is yet to make any public comment.
