Jason Bowles is the attorney for Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was the ‘Rust’ set armorer when Halyna Hutchins was killed by a bullet fired by Alec Baldwin which also wounded the director, Joel Souza. During an interview Wednesday on ‘The Today Show’ with host Savannah Guthrie, he suggested shooting death was murder.
According to The Daily Mail, the lawyer described what he thinks might have happened:
“There was a box of dummy rounds, and the box is labeled “dummy.’”
“[Gutierrez Reed] loaded rounds from that box into the handgun, only later to find out – she had no idea – that there was a live round.”
The gun was given to assistant director David Halls who gave the firearm to Baldwin and announced “cold gun.”
“We’re assuming somebody put the live round in that box,” the attorney said. “The person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging the set. There is no other reason you would do that: that you would mix that live round in with the dummy rounds.”
The attorney thought a disgruntled worker might have planted it to sabotage the set.
“I believe that somebody who would do that, would want to sabotage the set, would want to prove a point, want to say they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy,” he said.
“And we know that people had already walked off the set the day before… and the reason they are unhappy is they’re working 12 to 14 hour days, they are not given hotel rooms in and around the area, so they had to drive back and forth an hour to Albuquerque, and they’re unhappy,” he said.
Robert Gorence, another attorney for the armorer, said the gun had been locked away but the prop ammunition was in a prop truck that was “completely unattended at all times, giving someone access and opportunity.”
Gorence also said that after the armorer retrieved the gun and loaded it with the rounds from the box, it was left unattended on a trey for two hours ahead of an afternoon film shoot.
Her lawyers defended her saying, she was expected to be an armorer and a props assistant.
Attorney Bowles said that after lunch, Gutierrez Reed handed the gun she had loaded earlier to Halls and then went about performing her other duties as a props assistant.
As she handed over the Colt, the lawyer said Gutierrez Reed spun the chamber to show Halls the rounds inside.
Watch:
Are you saying that disgruntled crew members who had walked off the set are potential suspects in your mind? –@SavannahGuthrie
I think you can’t rule anybody out at this point. -Jason Bowles, attorney for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed pic.twitter.com/esApCCbDDL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 3, 2021
“I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, would want to prove a point, want to say that they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy. And we know that people had already walked off the set the day before.” -Jason Bowles, attorney for Hannah Gutierrez Reed pic.twitter.com/LluEMEm6as
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 3, 2021
Are you saying that disgruntled crew members who had walked off the set are potential suspects in your mind? –@SavannahGuthrie
I think you can’t rule anybody out at this point. -Jason Bowles, attorney for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed pic.twitter.com/esApCCbDDL
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) November 3, 2021
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If an Actor can’t load his own weapon then they shouldn’t have a weapon; give them a toy gun. At least Alex Baldwin, David Halls, and Gutierrez Reed belong in Jail. Baldwin for Murder. You NEVER point a gun and pull the trigger unless YOU intend to kill them. Pointing a gun a someone on a “Set” should only be done if the person is behind ballistic glass; even with blanks in the gun. “Practice” should only be done with a manikin with a clear field of fire behind it. If an Armor can’t tell Blank from a Live Round; they are a moron. Loading a gun with a Live Round is no defense and Gutierrez Reed needs to find a new attorney before she finds herself being charged with murder.
All three people handling the weapon should have positively checked the weapon, and for a revolver that means removing the bullets, and checking the barrel. I check vintage revolvers with a pencil to make sure the barrel is clear. The assistant director should have never been involved in handling the weapon. The Armor should have given an empty gun to Baldwin, Baldwin should have verified it as being safe, then the Armor should have supplied the Blanks and Baldwin loaded the gun. If you don’t understand Gun Safety, being a Liberal is no defense. Alex Baldwin is an anti-gun nut case. Every anti-gun nut case I know has zero gun safety training and so should not touch a gun.
Alex Baldwin should now be the NRA poster child for gun safety! I taught my daughter gun safety at 7 y/o. I keep guns under lock and key, but never worried about her touching a gun without me being present. She understood it was a dangerous tool, just like a chainsaw, a nail gun, or even a car. ALL “movie stars” handling guns should have regular NRA safety training and in addition, there should be a Range Safety Officer in addition to an Armor on a Set when guns are used. People are dangerous! Liberals are very dangerous because they don’t even think in terms of being a responsible Adult. Case in point Alex Baldwin!
wait a minute…someone putting the live bullet in there to sabotage is a nice theory… but it is not the only possible explanation!
We know that they also used that gun occasionally to shoot real bullets,
thus it is entirely possible that the person responsible for making sure live rounds never got mixed with blanks made a mistake.
maybe that person that day had drank alcohol or smoked pot or the previous night was partying all night and their brain was not working at full capacity
maybe they are simply very incompetent and neglected to verify things carefully
sabotage makes Baldwin look like a victim…which is a bit too convenient given what happened…
Anyone loading a revolver with supposedly blank cartridges and “unknowingly” inserting one or more live rounds should not be allowed to load the weapon. That in itself is stupid.
Spinning the cylinder (which has multiple chambers) on a revolver is generally done only to verify either the number of rounds inserted or the number of rounds that have not been fired.
On most western style six shooters, the cylinder chambers are visible from the back one at a time and then only by looking through the opened loading gate. Inspection of the back of each round in the cylinder requires slowly advancing the chambers past the loading gate to view each one. There’s no advantage to “spinning” the cylinder…unless you’re playing Russian roulette.
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