Baldwin ‘waved gun around’ on fatal film set

dEputY us Editor

ALEC BALDWIN waved a gun like a “pointing stick” on the set where a cinematographer was fatally shot, a court has heard.

Footage from the set of before the 2021 death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was played for the first time at the trial of the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

It showed Baldwin gesticulating with a pistol loaded with blanks and firing the gun in close proximity to camera operators.

In another clip, Baldwin can be seen lying on the ground on set in New Mexico and talking over his notes for a retake while gesturing with the gun.

“He’s using the weapon as a pointing stick, as his finger,” Bryan Carpenter, a firearms expert serving as a prosecution witness, told the court.

At one point, Baldwin was captured on camera telling Ms Gutierrez-Reed to reload a gun more quickly and asking why she did not have more weapons ready.

He rapidly fired blanks from a pistol to get through a wooden shed. After the director called “cut”, Baldwin said: “One more! One more! One more! Right away!

Let’s reload!” Ms Gutierrez-Reed can then be seen hurriedly reloading the weapon with blanks. Baldwin can be heard saying: “We should have two guns and both we’re reloading.”

Prosecutors have alleged that Baldwin, 65, endangered safety by rushing production.

“Rushing with firearms and telling someone to rush with firearms is not normal nor accepted,” Mr Carpenter told the court.

The firearms expert said that Baldwin shot the pistol far too close to the camera operators, was “basically instructing the armourer how to do their job” and creating an unnecessary “unsafe and nerve-wracking situation.”

Mr Carpenter told the court that Ms Gutierrez-Reed should not have allowed herself to be hurried.

Ms Gutierrez-Reed, who as the armourer was in charge of firearms on the film set, has denied involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence. She faces up to three years in prison if convicted.

Baldwin has said he pulled back the hammer, but not the trigger, and the gun fired. He is expected to face a separate trial in July and has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter.