Alec Baldwin was not supposed to pull the trigger of the prop gun when he accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, according to a new lawsuit.
On October 21, the SNL star fatally shot the 42-year-old mother-of-one and injured director Joel Souza on the set of Western movie Rust in Sante Fe, New Mexico, while he was rehearsing for a scene that called for him to point the gun at the camera.
But according to a negligence lawsuit filed by the film's chief electrician Serge Svetnoy on Wednesday, November 10, Baldwin, 63, was not supposed to fire the weapon.
According to the suit, the "scene to be filmed called for Defendant Baldwin, who was seated in a pew, to reach across his chest, draw" a .45 long Colt revolver "from a shoulder holster, and point it in the general direction of the camera."
It added: "The scene did not call for Defendant Baldwin to shoot the Colt Revolver, which should not have contained any live ammunition."
The lawsuit names Baldwin, an actor, and producer for the film, assistant director Dave Halls and the on-set armorer Hannah Guitterez-Reed as defendants.
It states that Baldwin "practiced his move for the scene" and Svetnoy saw the prop gun "being pointed in his direction."
"Suddenly and completely unexpectedly, Plaintiff heard the loudest gunshot that he has ever experienced on a movie set," the suit continues, adding that Svetnoy "felt a strange and terrifying whoosh of what felt like pressurized air from his right."
The suit adds: "He felt what he believed was gunpowder and other residual materials from the gun directly strike the right side of his face and scratch the lenses of the eyeglasses he was wearing."
The gun that Baldwin fired was supposed to be loaded with dummy rounds, but instead contained live ammunition, investigators have confirmed.
However, when the actor was handed the gun by Halls, he was assured it was safe to use, court documents state.
On Wednesday, Mary Carmack-Altwies, the district attorney investigating the shooting, said that she knows who loaded the gun that killed Hutchins - but refused to name names.
