Rust shooting: Alec Baldwin sued by crew member who held Halyna Hutchins as she died
- Serge Svetnoy, head of lighting for the ill-fated film, says the bullet that killed his close friend narrowly missed him
- The first known lawsuit stemming from the incident names nearly two dozen people, including assistant director David Halls and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed
The head of lighting on the film Rust filed a lawsuit Wednesday over Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of the Western, alleging negligence that caused him “severe emotional distress” that will haunt him forever.
Serge Svetnoy said in the suit that the bullet that killed his close friend Hutchins, narrowly missed him, and he held her head as she died.
The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court names nearly two dozen defendants associated with the film including Baldwin, who was both star and a producer; David Halls, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun; and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of weapons on the set.
It is the first known lawsuit of what could be many stemming from the October 21 shooting, which also injured Rust director Joel Souza.
“Simply put there was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver or to be present anywhere on the Rust set, and the presence of a bullet in a revolver posed a lethal threat to everyone in its vicinity,” the lawsuit says.