Before the fatal shot at cameraman Halyna Hutchins while filming the western “Rust”, a weapons advisor is said to have been hired in addition to the gun master. As the Los Angeles Times researched, the production company Rust Movie Productions LLC hired seasoned prop master Seth Kenney to assist weapons master Hannah Gutierrez. The twenty-four-year-old was considered to be rather inexperienced. In addition, there had been repeated misfires and incidents during previous filming, in which Gutierrez was responsible for weapons and ammunition.
Fifty-one-year-old Kenney, who rents props and weapons in Arizona and New Mexico, is also believed to have provided the revolver that Alec Baldwin used to shoot Hutchins' camerawoman three weeks ago.
During a rehearsal scene at the Bonanza Creek film ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico, a shot was fired on October 21 when Baldwin was practicing gripping techniques with the revolver.
Hutchins died a little later in the hospital.
Director Joel Souza, who was hit in the shoulder by the bullet, is said to have recovered in the meantime.
The assistant director Dave Halls had handed Baldwin the gun before the accident, saying it was unloaded.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office is continuing to investigate how live ammunition, a violation of the regulations, got onto the film ranch.
Baldwin, the main actor and co-producer of the western, has now asked Hollywood to generally instruct police officers to check weapons and ammunition in shooting scenes.
"On every film or television set that uses weapons or dummies, a police officer should oversee security," the sixty-three-year-old tweeted on Monday.
After Hutchins' death, several production companies had already announced that they would forego blank cartridges and muzzle flashes in the future and that the effects would later be cut into the films on the computer.