A crew member who gave actor Alec Baldwin a prop gun he fired and accidentally killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie “Rust” reportedly was the subject of a safety complaint on-set in 2019.
“Maggie Goll, a prop maker and licensed pyrotechnician, said in a statement that she filed an internal complaint with the executive producers of Hulu’s ‘Into the Dark’ series in 2019 over concerns about assistant director Dave Halls’ behavior on set. Goll said in a phone interview Sunday that Halls disregarded safety protocols for weapons and pyrotechnics and tried to continue filming after the supervising pyrotechnician lost consciousness on set,” The Associated Press reported.
Goll claimed that Hall did not hold safety meetings and often did not tell crew members that a firearm was on the set. He also reportedly dismissed actors a number of times before they returned some guns to the props table.
“He did not maintain a safe working environment. Sets were almost always allowed to become increasingly claustrophobic, no established fire lanes, exits blocked … safety meetings were nonexistent” Goll told NBC News.
She added, “The only reason the crew was made aware of a weapon’s presence was because the assistant prop master demanded Dave acknowledge and announce the situation each day.”
“The gun Baldwin used that was supposed to contain blanks had misfired before on the New Mexico set, sources familiar with the situation said, prompting several crew members to walk off the set just hours before the incident that killed Hutchins,” NBC News noted further.
On Saturday, released a statement from “Rust” director Joel Souza, who himself was wounded during the shooting incident.
“I am gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague, Halyna. She was kind, vibrant, incredibly talented, fought for every inch, and always pushed me to be better. My thoughts are with her family at this most difficult time,” he said.
“I am humbled and grateful by the outpouring of affection we have received from our filmmaking community, the people of Santa Fe, and the hundreds of strangers who have reached out … It will surely aid in my recovery.”
The Daily Wire reported Saturday regarding a Hollywood armorer’s comments that the “cold gun” on the set of “Rust” should not have been loaded, “especially if it’s a rehearsal.”
“You have to make sure that the weapon is truly cold, which means there should have been no rounds in there, period. And especially if it’s a rehearsal,” Bryan Carpenter, an armorer and weapons master in the film industry, told CNN.
He added that prop guns are supposed to be inspected by two people before they are given to actors for use in a scene.