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Alec Baldwin calls for on-set police to monitor gun usage during filming

The actor has called for a police presence on set

Elizabeth Aubrey
Monday 08 November 2021 12:22 EST
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Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on movie set, killing cinematographer

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Alec Baldwin has called for police officers to be present on film and television sets to monitor gun usage during filming.

Baldwin fired a fatal shot from what he believed was a safe “cold gun” on 21 October, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

Baldwin, 63, shared a tweet on his now locked Twitter account calling for police officers to be hired for any set that requires a prop gun.

He wrote: “Every film/TV set that uses guns, fake or otherwise, should have a police officer on set, hired by the production, to specifically monitor weapons safely.”

Last week, Baldwin shared a Rust crew member’s Instagram post in which they denied reports the set where a cinematographer was shot dead had “unsafe, chaotic conditions”. Baldwin captioned the post, “Read this.”

“I’m so sick of this narrative. I worked on this movie. The story being spun of us being overworked and surrounded by unsafe, chaotic conditions is bulls**t,” wrote costumer designer Terese Magpale Davis. She then wrote about the hours worked by the crew on the New Mexico set of the western movie, and denied that they had been “too tired to do their jobs”.

“This is all provable by daily time sheets,” she added.

She also defended both the movie’s producers as well as the hiring of set armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Dave Halls, writing that “concerns were heard and addressed” about on-set safety and that Ms Gutierrez-Reed came with “great references”.

She also stated that Halls “never seemed flippant about safety”, but she admitted he had seemed “stressed” on the day of the shooting.

However, she added: “We had several safety meetings. Sometimes multiple per day.”

Baldwin conducted a roadside press conference in Vermont recently saying that he was cooperating with investigators and that he has been speaking to police every day since the shooting.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department said last week that it is still investigating the incident and that it was “too early” to comment on any charges that may be brought.

Filming of the movie has been suspended pending investigations.

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