SANTA FE, N.M. (KNX) — Attorneys for the husband and son of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer that was fatally shot on a New Mexico film set in October has sued Alec Badlwin — the actor accused of discharging the live round from a prop gun that ended her life.
The wrongful death lawsuit also names the producers and a few crew members involved in the production of Rust.
Matthew Hutchins, on behalf of himself and his son Andros, filed the suit in New Mexico court, claiming the production company behind Rust "breached the most basic rules of firearm use on a film production," leading to the 42-year-old cinematographer's death.
At a news conference in Los Angeles, attorney Brian Panish said there were "numerous violations of industry standards that occurred by Mr. Baldwin and others that were charged with safety on the set." He accused producers of "reckless conduct" and "cost-cutting measures" that directly led to the killing of Hutchins.
Baldwin has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in connection with the cinematographer's death, insisting he was unaware that a live round of ammunition was in the gun.
Hutchins was fatally shot while Baldwin, a producer of and actor in Rust, was wielding a gun in preparation of camera angels for s cene. The gun was supposed to contain only blank rounds, but discharged a lead bullet that struck Hutchins in the chest and the shoulder of director Joel Souza.
Souza survived the ordeal.
In an interview with ABC News last year, Baldwin said he "didn't pull the trigger.". He previously described the shooting as a tragic accident, a "one-in-a-trillion episode."
"The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company," producers said in a statement after the shooting. "Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down."
Other lawsuits have already been filed in connection with the shooting, including one in L.A. on behalf of a script supervisor who was standing next to Hutchins when she was killed.
