Alec Baldwin Chatted on Phone With Family During Crucial Firearms Training, Prosecutors Allege

Alec Baldwin allegedly blew off a scheduled firearms training, then talked on the phone with his family during a second training session, before the fatal shooting on the set of Rust—just one of a litany of failures outlined in charging documents filed by New Mexico prosecutors on Tuesday.

The document, which repeatedly slams the actor’s “willful disregard for safety,” was made public Tuesday after Baldwin and the film’s armorer, Hannah Reed Gutierrez, were formally charged with involuntary manslaughter.

The filing came as expected, two weeks after prosecutors announced their plans to levy charges against the pair by the end of January.

Prosecutors alleged that “negligence” and “willful disregard for safety” by Gutierrez and Baldwin led to the death of Halyna Hutchins and serious injuries to a film director.

The fatal shooting, which Baldwin’s camp has emphasized was nothing more than a tragic accident, happened on Oct. 21, 2021, when Baldwin fired a Colt .45 revolver during a rehearsal for a scene.

Prosecutors wrote in a probable cause affidavit that Baldwin should never have had a real gun in his hands during a rehearsal that wasn’t being filmed—let alone one equipped with live rounds.

The affidavit said Baldwin pointed the gun at Hutchins as she prepared for the rehearsal of a future scene inside a church on ranch in rural Santa Fe County. It says Baldwin—despite his assertions that he never pulled the trigger—then fired the powerful revolver, sending a live round through Hutchins’ chest and into director Joel Souza, who was seriously injured.

“By not receiving the required training on firearms, deviating from the required duties of checking the firearm with the armorer, letting the armorer leave the church against protocol, deviating from the practice of only accepting the firearm from the armorer, not dealing with safety complaints on the set, not making sure the protocol of safety meetings was occurring, putting his finger on the trigger of a real gun, not using a replica firearm for the unscheduled rehearsal, pointing the gun at Hutchins and Souza, and the overall handling of the firearm in a negligent manner, Baldwin acted with willful disregard of the safety of others,” the affidavit states.

They later added, “Baldwin clearly should have known the danger of his actions.”

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