(Mark Pellin, Headline USA) In an oddly Hollywood-influenced news conference, lawyers for the family of Halyna Hutchins — the cinematographer shot and killed on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie “Rust” — used 3-D animated video that reconstructed the shooting to announce a lawsuit filed against Baldwin and the movie’s producers.
Video shown at Tuesday’s press conference recreated the moment Baldwin fired the shot from a prop gun that killed Hutchins on a New Mexico set last October, reported the Daily Mail. Baldwin was holding a Colt revolver during a rehearsal on set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe when he fired a live round.
The video unveiled by attorneys showed a computer-generated avatar representing Baldwin accepting the Colt gun, pointing it in Hutchins’ direction, and firing.
The animation shows that the bullet in the chamber was live and not a ‘dummy’ with a hole drilled into it. The round strikes Hutchins, who clutches her chest and collapses in the video.
Hours after the lawsuit was announced, Baldwin reportedly posted a video to Instagram of a sign that read, “Everything’s going to be alright.”
The civil lawsuit is seeking unspecified but “substantial” damages, including punitive damages.
Attorneys alleged that Baldwin and the movie’s producers showed “callous” disregard in response to safety complaints, and combined with “reckless conduct and cost-cutting measures,” led to Hutchins’ death. They contend Baldwin refused training for the type of “cross-draw” he was performing when he fired the shot that killed her, according to the Associated Press.
“Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false,” Aaron Dyer, attorney for Baldwin and other producers, said in a statement.
“He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a ‘cold gun’ – meaning there is no possibility of a discharge.”
