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Baldwin Set Shooting
Santa Fe County Deputy Levi Abeyta, left, watches as expert witness for the defense Frank Koucky III demonstrates how to uncock a gun like the one used on the set of the movie "Rust" as Koucky testifies in the involuntary manslaughter trial of movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, Tuesday, March 5, 2024, at the First Judicial District Courthouse in Santa Fe, N.M. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

Workplace safety regulator says management failed in fatal shooting by Alec Baldwin

A workplace safety investigator says safety complaints by a movie armorer to managers went largely unheeded on the set of the Western movie “Rust,” where actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer

By MORGAN LEE
Published - Mar 05, 2024, 05:10 PM ET
Last Updated - Mar 05, 2024, 05:10 PM EST

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Complaints by a movie weapons supervisor to managers went unheeded as she sought more time and resources to fulfill safety duties on the set of the Western movie “Rust,” where actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer, a workplace safety investigator testified Tuesday at the trial.

Defense attorneys for armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed called the inspector among its first witnesses to refute allegations of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal in October 2021.

Lorenzo Montoya, of the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau, conducted a six-month investigation of the shooting and whether managers affiliated with Rust Movie Productions complied with state workplace safety regulations.

His inspection produced a scathing narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including observations that weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training and didn't respond to Gutierrez-Reed's complaints. The report also found that managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting and requests to provide more training.

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