“Like a baseball bat to the shoulder”: “Rust” director Joel Souza told a US court on Friday of the moment a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin injured him and killed the director photography.
• Read also: Fatal shooting on the film “Rust”: the gunsmith reveals in court where the bullets came from
• Read also: Fatal shooting on the film “Rust”: Alec Baldwin will be tried in July
The story was given at the trial in Santa Fe (New Mexico) of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, responsible for handling the weapons on this low-budget western.
Filming turned into drama in October 2021 on a ranch in New Mexico, a state in the southwest of the United States. Alec Baldwin, also a producer of the film, had pointed a revolver supposed to contain only blank bullets, but a very real projectile had killed the director of photography Halyna Hutchins and injured the director.
On the stand Friday, Joel Souza recounted his confusion when he received a real bullet in his shoulder. “There was a huge ‘bang,’” he said, “I felt it like a baseball bat hit me in the shoulder.”
The accused, gunsmith Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, looked “distraught,” he said. “I remember her saying ‘sorry, I’m sorry Joel,’ and I remember someone yelling at her” before she was pushed out, he told the court.
AFP
On Thursday, footage exhibited at the trial showed actor Alec Baldwin gesticulating on set with a gun in his hand, firing blank bullets from the chain and urging the gunsmith to reload his weapons more quickly.
An expert called to the stand also denounced Thursday a lax attitude regarding security within the film crew.
One of the central questions is how a very deadly cartridge ended up on the set of “Rust.”
The 26-year-old gunsmith is being prosecuted for manslaughter, a crime punishable by 18 months of imprisonment. She disputes the accusations.
Alec Baldwin is being prosecuted on the same charge, but will be tried separately in July. The 65-year-old actor denies pulling the trigger and has always maintained that he was assured his weapon was harmless.
2024-03-02 00:24:07
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