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Friday, January 20, 2023
Prosecutors announces manslaughter charges for Alec Baldwin in shooting
CANVAS Arts: Prosecutors announced Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin and a weapons specialist will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer who was killed in 2021 on a New Mexico movie set.
3 comments:
Alex Reinard
said...
It's nice to finally hear a verdict on this case. I remember hearing about it when it first happened, when I was still in high school; I never thought it would end up this big. Halyna Hutchins's death will always be a tragedy, but this shooting will make the theater and film worlds much better and safer places. After all, nobody on the set of Rust thought that there was live ammunition present, so they didn't take necessary precautions. It was the result of multiple failures, but if it hadn't happened on the set of Rust, it would've had to happen somewhere else. It's interesting that the report didn't say how the live ammunition got on set, since that was probably the first and foremost problem. Likewise, the report doesn't mention whether or not the ammunition supplier will be fined. In my opinion, it's wrong for the production company to continue to produce the film, but I can only hope that as they do, they do so in a safe way.
I remember when the news of this fatal shooting was first released and how many different opinions there were as to why this tragedy occurred. These opinions seemed to vary by profession. The article that made the situation clear to me was an interview with an expert weapons specialist who explained the primary party responsible was the weapons specialist on set. This is why I am shocked that the Prosecutor’s Office has decided to charge Alec Baldwin with the same charge as the weapons specialist. In the interview, the expert talked about how he is the only person who handles the weapons up to the point the weapon is handed to an actor.. He ensures each piece is stored and locked appropriately and always unloaded. If the weapons specialist on the set of Rust had done her job accordingly, there would not have been this devastating tragedy.
How could this production have been so bad that seven employees would leave due to bad working conditions and then have a fatal shooting on the same day? I am glad to know the result of this case, especially because of how much of a tragedy it was hearing about this death and the injury the weapon caused a while back. I am glad to know this did not happen within industry standards, but I still believe that the standards and protection protocols need to be increased. It's hard to hear that anyone holding a real gun can think that it is safe even if they were told it was safe due to the fake bullets (which turned out not to be true after all) within. Even if Baldwin and Hutchins were trying out angles, there is no world in which an actor should be pointing a gun at another person on set in real life if they know the gun is loaded. At the least, a test shot should have been done with the same ammo that would be used later to ensure everyone's safety.
3 comments:
It's nice to finally hear a verdict on this case. I remember hearing about it when it first happened, when I was still in high school; I never thought it would end up this big. Halyna Hutchins's death will always be a tragedy, but this shooting will make the theater and film worlds much better and safer places. After all, nobody on the set of Rust thought that there was live ammunition present, so they didn't take necessary precautions. It was the result of multiple failures, but if it hadn't happened on the set of Rust, it would've had to happen somewhere else. It's interesting that the report didn't say how the live ammunition got on set, since that was probably the first and foremost problem. Likewise, the report doesn't mention whether or not the ammunition supplier will be fined. In my opinion, it's wrong for the production company to continue to produce the film, but I can only hope that as they do, they do so in a safe way.
I remember when the news of this fatal shooting was first released and how many different opinions there were as to why this tragedy occurred. These opinions seemed to vary by profession. The article that made the situation clear to me was an interview with an expert weapons specialist who explained the primary party responsible was the weapons specialist on set. This is why I am shocked that the Prosecutor’s Office has decided to charge Alec Baldwin with the same charge as the weapons specialist. In the interview, the expert talked about how he is the only person who handles the weapons up to the point the weapon is handed to an actor.. He ensures each piece is stored and locked appropriately and always unloaded. If the weapons specialist on the set of Rust had done her job accordingly, there would not have been this devastating tragedy.
How could this production have been so bad that seven employees would leave due to bad working conditions and then have a fatal shooting on the same day? I am glad to know the result of this case, especially because of how much of a tragedy it was hearing about this death and the injury the weapon caused a while back. I am glad to know this did not happen within industry standards, but I still believe that the standards and protection protocols need to be increased. It's hard to hear that anyone holding a real gun can think that it is safe even if they were told it was safe due to the fake bullets (which turned out not to be true after all) within. Even if Baldwin and Hutchins were trying out angles, there is no world in which an actor should be pointing a gun at another person on set in real life if they know the gun is loaded. At the least, a test shot should have been done with the same ammo that would be used later to ensure everyone's safety.
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