“This tragedy occurred because live rounds were delivered to the set and loaded into the gun, Gutierrez-Reed failed to thoroughly inspect the bullets or the gun, Halls failed to thoroughly inspect the gun and yet declared the gun safe before passed it on to Baldwin, and Zachary failed to disclose that Gutierrez-Reed acted recklessly off set and posed a safety risk to those around her,” Nikas wrote.
The Washington Post was not immediately able to reach the defendants Friday night.
In October 2021, Baldwin was in a church building at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, practicing cocking the gun when it went off, killing cameraman Halina Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. It was not clear why the prop had live ammunition.
According to interviews conducted by the Sante Fe County Sheriff’s Office, people at the scene saw and heard Halls pull a .45 Long Colt revolver from Gutierrez-Reed, declare it a “cool gun” and hand it to Baldwin. The industry term means that there are no live cartridges in the weapon.
The New Mexico medical examiner ruled Hutchins’ manner of death an accident after she was shot in the chest. An FBI report suggests the gun could not have fired without the trigger being pulled.
Baldwin’s lawsuit is the latest since filming: Gutierrez-Reid sued Kenny, saying he was responsible for the live ammunition on the set. Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell sued several, including Baldwin, Gutierrez-Reid and Halls, over workplace safety allegations.
Matthew Hutchins, Halina Hutchins’ husband, filed a wrongful-death lawsuit this year against Baldwin and other entities involved in the production, seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The defendants settled the case last month.
After news of the settlement, Matthew Hutchins called his wife’s death a “terrible accident.”
“I have no interest in engaging in mutual accusations or assigning blame [to the producers or Mr. Baldwin]Hutchins said in a statement last month after reaching a settlement with the actor. “We all believe that Halina’s death was a terrible accident.”
Filming will resume next year, according to the statement, with Matthew Hutchins as executive producer.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office provided its investigative report to local prosecutors in October, but the results of the investigation have not been made public. Local prosecutors have not filed criminal charges in the shooting.
