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The lightpipe of the movie “Rust” on Wednesday filed a lawsuit over Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of the western, alleging negligence caused him “severe emotional distress” that will haunt him forever.
Serge Svetnoy said in a suit that the bullet that killed his close friend Hutchins narrowly missed him and that he was holding her head as she died.
“You should never have had live rounds on this set,” said Svetnoy’s attorney Gary A. Dordick at a press conference on Wednesday.
“She was my friend,” Svetnoy said at the press conference.
The lawsuit filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court names nearly two dozen defendants associated with the film, including Baldwin, who was both a star and a producer; David Halls, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun; and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was in charge of guns on set.
It is the first known lawsuit of possibly many to be traced back to the October 21 shooting in which “Rust” director Joel Souza was also injured.
“Simply put, there was no need to put a sharp bullet in that .45 Colt revolver or be anywhere on the ‘Rust’ set, and the presence of a bullet in a revolver posed a lethal threat to anyone in his Closeness ”, it says in the lawsuit.
The suit states that Svetnoy set up the lights within 2 meters of Baldwin.
“What happened next will haunt the plaintiff forever,” the lawsuit said. “He felt a strange and terrifying rush from what felt like pressurized air from his right hand. He felt how he believed it was gunpowder and other residues that hit the right side of his face. ”
Then he knelt down to help Hutchins, his glasses scratched and his hearing muffled, the suit said.
“Rust” weapon master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed made her first statement a week after the accidental death of camerawoman Halyna Hutchins.
The lawsuit seeks both damages and punitive damages, which are to be determined later. It was filed in Los Angeles County because the plaintiff and most of the defendants are resident there.
Lawyers and representatives of the defendants did not immediately respond to email and phone messages asking for comments on the lawsuit.
Gutierrez Reed’s attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement Wednesday: “We believe it was sabotage and that Hannah is being tricked. We believe that the scene was manipulated even before the police arrived. ”
Bowles said his client provided a full interview to authorities and will continue to provide assistance. The statement did not relate to the lawsuit.
“We ask for a full and complete investigation of all the facts, including the live rounds themselves, how they ended up in the ‘dummies’ box and who put them in there,” the statement said.
Gutierrez Reed said last week that she inspected the gun Baldwin had fired but didn’t know how a sharp bullet landed in it.
Halls, the assistant director, said last week he hoped the tragedy caused the film industry to “reevaluate their values and practices” to make sure no one was harmed, but failed to provide details.
Authorities said Halls handed the gun over to Baldwin and announced a “cold gun,” indicating the gun was safe to use.
Baldwin said on video on October 30th that the shooting was a “one-in-a-trillion event” and said, “We were a very, very well-oiled crew who did a movie together and then it happened this terrible event. “
Director Souza told detectives that Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he pulled a revolver from its holster and pointed it at the camera that Hutchins and Souza were behind according to court records in New Mexico.
Souza said the scene did not call for the use of live rounds, and Gutierrez Reed said that according to court records, real ammunition should never have been present.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said there was “a certain complacency” with guns on set. Authorities have stated that there is still much investigation to be done before criminal charges can be considered.
Hollywood professionals were amazed at the circumstances of the shooting on the set. This has already resulted in other production teams tightening security measures.
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Follow AP Entertainment writer Andrew Dalton on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andyjamesdalton
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