A new lawsuit was filed by a Rust crew member on Wednesday that alleges that Alec Baldwin discharged the gun that accidentally killed Halyna Hutchins last month despite the fact that the script for the scene to be filmed that day did not call for a gun to be fired.
The script supervisor on Rust, who was standing four feet away from Baldwin when he fired the loaded gun, is suing him and the movie's producers, claiming that their actions were reckless and caused her severe emotional distress. Mitchell called the emergency services after Hutchins and Souza were shot.
A lawsuit states that Alec Baldwin fired a loaded gun even though the upcoming scene to be filmed did not call for the firing of a firearm. Mr. Baldwin chose to play Russian Roulette with a loaded gun without having the armorer check it.
Baldwin discharged the prop gun while practicing for a scene in the movie inside a church in New Mexico, according to authorities. The Santa Fe sheriff's office said at the time that the scene was being filmed with a prop gun.
Mitchell alleges in her lawsuit that the crew had not begun filming at the time Baldwin shot the prop gun.
The lawsuit states that Mitchell, Hutchins, and Souza discussed three camera shots to be used in the next scene when filming resumed after the lunch break. One shot focused on Baldwin's eyes, another on a bloodstain on his shoulder, and a third on his torso as he reached down to his holster and removed the gun.
The lawsuit states that there was no mention of the gun being discharged by Baldwin or anyone else.
Mitchell would have been required to stand outside the church to view Baldwin's actions on monitors if the scene had called for a gun to be discharged.
There were multiple violations of industrywide safety protocols for the use of firearms on movie sets, according to the lawsuit.
Reed had previously told investigators that she checked to make sure that the gun that Baldwin was given was not a hot gun or live round and that Dave Halls, the assistant director, yelled out that it was a cold gun.
Baldwin relied on Hall's assurance that the gun was not loaded instead of checking it himself, according to the lawsuit.
Representatives for Reed, Baldwin, and the producers did not respond to the request for comment.
The fact that guns and bullets were left unattended on a cart and allowed to be handled by people who had no business handling them makes this a case where injury or death was much more than what it was.
Two of the filmmakers involved in the making of Rust own companies that are known for working in unsafe conditions.
According to the lawsuit and court documents, on the day of the shooting, several Rust camera operators and their assistants walked off the job to protest payment and housing issues.
During Wednesday's press conference, Mitchell cried as she recalled the events that led to Hutchins' death.
Mitchell said that she went to the church with other crew members after lunch. She said that Baldwin was going through his movement with a gun.
Mitchell said she was holding the script in one hand and her phone in the other when there was a loud noise and an explosion.
"I heard someone moaning, and I turned around, and my director was falling backwards and holding his upper body, and I saw Halyna going down to the left of me," Mitchell said.
She said she ran outside and called for help, then saw Hutchins on a stretcher. Mitchell was told that Hutchins had died of a gunshot wound to her chest.
Mitchell said that the shooting had left her depressed and feeling unsafe.
She said that Mitchell has been working as a script supervisor for 40 years.
She said that she never wants to see what happened on that date again.
