The family of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Alec Baldwin for the Rust shooting that resulted in Hutchins’ death. Lawyers for the family also released a disturbing animated reenactment of what happened that day.
The suit claims that the failure to follow safety standards led to Hutchins’ death, including the appearance of live ammo on set. And while Baldwin has previously claimed that he only pulled back the hammer and did not pull the trigger on the gun that killed Hutchins, Brian Panish, one of the family’s lawyers, said, “I think it's clear what happened. Alec had the gun in his hand, he shot it — Halyna was killed. The gun cannot fire unless the trigger is engaged and the hammer is back.”
“There are many people culpable, but Mr. Baldwin was the person holding the weapon … that but for him shooting, she would not have died,” Panish added.
The family’s lawyers also claimed that Baldwin refused proper weapons training and said that the industry standard requires the crew to be behind protective glass during such a scene.
Baldwin’s lawyers released a statement on Tuesday (February 15th) following news of the lawsuit, denying the claims that he was “reckless,” saying that those claims are “entirely false.”