Baldwin Fatal Shooting Report Finds 'Rust' Management Showed 'Plain Indifference' to Employee Safety

The fatal shooting on the set of the movie "Rust" occurred in October 2021, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a revolver used as a prop. The firearm appeared to not have been properly checked for safety in advance.

New Mexico's workplace safety regulator issued the production company behind the movie "Rust" the maximum possible fine after a report detailing the October 2021 shooting found that the management had demonstrated "plain indifference to employee safety".

The production received a $139,793 penalty, with the report stating that the management "knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed".

“What we had, based on our investigators’ findings, was a set of obvious hazards to employees regarding the use of firearms and management’s failure to act upon those obvious hazards,” bureau chief for occupational safety Bob Genoway said, cited by the Associated Press.

The Secretary of the Environment Department that oversees occupational safety, James Kenney, said that the decision was made after 1,500 hours of investigation, with additional probes into possible criminal charges still underway.

“This tragedy, this loss of life, it could have been prevented, and we want people to say something,” he said, cited by the AP.

However, Kenney clarified that the agency had not received any direct safety complaints from the cast or the crew of "Rust" prior to the fatal shooting.

The tragic incident took place in October 2021, when the prop gun used by Alec Baldwin went off after he pointed it at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. She died as a result of the incident, and the film's director, Joel Souza, was injured.

Baldwin claimed that it was Hutchins herself who told him to point the prop gun at her.