A new lawsuit accused an ammunition supplier Wednesday of creating dangerous conditions on a film set where a A cinematographer was killed by a gun held by actor Alec Baldwin, by including live ammunition in a box that should have contained only dummy rounds.
The lawsuit was filed in New Mexico State District Court by Hannah Gutierrez Reid, who along with two associates oversaw firearms, ammunition, and related training on the set of “Rust.” Cinematographer Helena Hutchins Died of a gunshot wound during a “Jung” rehearsal on 21 October On a farm on the outskirts of Santa Fe in northern New Mexico.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, which is investigating the cause of death, has said it is too early to determine whether charges will be filed. Investigators have described “some complacency” in how weapons are handled on set.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawsuit blames ammunition supplier Seth Kenney and his company PDQ Arm & Prop for launching live rounds on sets where only blanks and dummies were present.
The lawsuit states, “The start of the live rounds on set, which no one expected, with the crowd and the chaotic atmosphere, created the perfect storm for a security incident.”
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Contacted by NBC News on Wednesday, a lawyer for Kenny declined to comment. According to The Associated Press, he previously stated that he was sure his company didn’t send any live rounds to the set of “Rust.”
The lawsuit adds new alleged details to the chain of custody for guns and ammunition on the “Rust” set on October 21, describing the presence of a new box of ammunition – believed to be harmless dummy rounds without any explosives. is – loaded shortly before a revolver and passed to Baldwin.
Baldwin has said that he didn’t know the gun he was holding had a live round when it stopped pointing at Hutchins. Investigators are trying to figure out where the live round came from, a search of PDQ Arm & Prop’s Albuquerque compound in December.
Baldwin and the production company behind “Rust” did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
The new lawsuit seeks damages in a jury trial on charges of unfair trade practices, introducing dangerous products, and false labels and misrepresentation.
It said officers found a suspect seven live rounds distributed on the set “inside the gunpowder box, on the gunpowder and in the bandoliers.”
Officers recovered hundreds of rounds of ammunition on the set of the movie “Rust” – a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what appeared to be live rounds.
Authorities have issued a search warrant for Baldwin’s phone, seeking text messages, images, videos, calls or any other information related to the film.