The fatal shooting of Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film “Rust” may have been sabotage, according to a lawyer connected to the case.
Jason Bowles is one of the lawyers for Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer in charge of weapons for the film. He said the 24-year-old admitted to having pulled the bullets for the prop gun that day, but that she pulled from a box clearly labeled “dummy rounds,” not knowing that any live ammunition was among the bullets.
“She knew her dummy rounds,” Bowles said, insinuating that someone may have altered the box without Guiterrez-Reed knowing. “Somebody put that live round, or live rounds, in that box. When you do that, you can only have bad intentions.”
Anyone who would manipulate the box that way, Bowles said in an interview with the TODAY show, would have wanted to sabotage the set to prove a point, possibly in relation to a walk off of the set over conditions just one day before Hutchins’ death.
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“We have people who had left the set, who had walked out because they were disgruntled,” Bowles told TODAY. “We have a time frame between 11 (a.m.) and 1 (p.m.), approximately, that day, in which the firearms at times were unattended, so there was opportunity to tamper with this scene.”
Another lawyer for Gutierrez-Reed said the film’s prop ammunition was in a truck that was often left unattended, giving anyone “access and opportunity.”
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New details continue to emerge as the FBI and New Mexico sheriffs continue to investigate the tragedy on set. Most recently, First Assistant Director David Halls came forward, saying he failed to properly check the gun that resulted in the death of the cinematographer.
“I’m shocked and saddened by her death,” Halls said in a statement. “It’s my hope that this tragedy prompts the industry to reevaluate its values and practices to ensure that no one is harmed through the creative process again.
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