Baldwin ‘intentionally’ fired shot on Rust set, lawsuit claims

The NY Post reports that Mamie Mitchell, the script supervisor on set when Baldwin shot and killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on October 21, is suing the actor, the movie production company and others for assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and deliberate infliction of harm.

Mitchell and her lawyer, Gloria Allred, are set to announce the suit during a press conference.

“Alec Baldwin intentionally, without just cause or excuse, cocked and fired a loaded gun even though the upcoming scene to be filmed did not call for the cocking and firing of a firearm,” Mitchell claimed in the lawsuit.

She also said every safety protocol designed to ensure safety with a firearm on set was ignored, such as the presence of live ammunition on set, and that “actions that were taken” that day “were against all industry norms.”

Hanna Gutierrez-Reed, the armourer on the Rust set, is also named as a defendant in the suit.

In the complaint, Mitchell said Baldwin, “being an industry veteran,” should have known that a prop master or an armorer is the only person who should hand him a gun.

Mitchell said the assistant director should not have handed Baldwin the gun, and that the actor should’ve known that he could not rely on the assistant director’s representation that it was a “cold gun.”

“The events that led to the shooting by Mr. Baldwin of a loaded gun constituted intentional acts and/or omission, without any just cause or excuse, on Alec Baldwin’s part or the Producers of Rust,” the complaint said.

“Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian roulette with a loaded gun without checking it and without having the Armorer do so. His behaviour and that of the Producers on ‘Rust’ were intentional acts and/or omissions. The fact that live ammunition was allowed on a movie set, that guns and ammunition were left unattended, that the gun in question was handed to Mr. Baldwin by the Assistant director who had no business doing so, the fact that safety bulletins were not promulgated or ignored, coupled with the fact that the scene in question did not call for a gun to be fired at all, makes this a case where injury or death was much more than just a possibility — it was a likely result.”

Mitchell is suing for an unspecified amount for loss of future earnings, special and general damages, lawyer fees and punitive damages.

This article originally appeared in the NY Post and was reproduced with permission.

Originally published as Rust script supervisor’s bombshell gun claim in lawsuit