'Rust' armourer found guilty over deadly on-set shooting

NEW MEXICO - The armourer who loaded the gun that killed a cinematographer on the set of the Alec Baldwin movie "Rust" was convicted of involuntary manslaughter.

A jury in New Mexico took just over two hours to find Hannah Gutierrez guilty for the death of Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 during filming of the budget Western.

A 10-day trial heard how Gutierrez had been ultimately responsible for the use of live rounds on set -- a red line across the industry.

The court had also heard how she had repeatedly failed to adhere to basic safety rules, leaving guns unattended, and allowing actors -- including Baldwin -- to wave weapons around.

"This is not a case where Hannah Gutierrez made one mistake and that one mistake was accidentally putting a live round into that gun," prosecutor Kari Morrissey told the jury in her closing argument Wednesday.

"This case is about constant, never-ending safety failures that resulted in the death of a human being and nearly killed another."

Hutchins was hit by a live round fired from the Colt .45 that Baldwin was holding for a scene inside a wooden church on the New Mexico set. Director Joel Souza was wounded by the same bullet.

Baldwin has repeatedly denied responsibility, insisting he did not pull the trigger.

Ballistics experts have dismissed the claim, saying the gun could not have discharged any other way.

His own involuntary manslaughter trial is expected in July.

The tragedy sent shockwaves through Hollywood and led to calls for a complete ban on the use of weapons on movie sets.

Industry insiders, however, insisted that rules were already in place to prevent such incidents, and that those working on "Rust" had not followed them.