A Second Lawsuit Filed Against Alec Baldwin

Mamie Mitchel, the first person to call police after Alec Baldwin fired a gun killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring the director Joel Souza, announced last week that she was filing a lawsuit against the actor and other producers of the film.

The suit claims that safety procedures were not followed and that the scene did not call for a gun to be fired. Mitchel and her lawyer, Gloria Allred gave a press conference to announce the news. The shooting took place on the set of the western movie, 'Rust' located in Santa Fe, New Mexico on October 21st. The incident is still being investigated and so far no criminal charges have been brought against anyone. 

On November 17th, Mitchel tearfully relived the shooting, claiming that she "will never forget what happened on the set of Rust that day."

Earlier this month, the film's head electrician, Serge Svetnoy filed a lawsuit against Baldwin claiming that the incident has caused him "severe emotional distress" and that the bullet "narrowly missed" him. The civil lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles. 

According to an affidavit signed by Detective Joel Cano of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, Baldwin was handed the prop gun by the film's assistant director, David Halls, who told the actor it was a "cold gun". A weapon is called 'cold' when it does not contain fire or explosives. 

However, Mitchell's lawyer, Gloria Allred, has stated that Baldwin "should not have relied on such a statement, for the industry norm is that the armorer hands the gun to the actor and demonstrates to the actor, in this case, Mr. Baldwin, that the gun chamber is empty. Mr. Baldwin knew that this was a norm and that it was not followed and he did not check the gun himself." She also said that there were many other set safety failures including having guns and live ammunition on set, that guns were left unattended on a cart, and that guns were being handled by those who were unqualified to be handling them. 

Lawyers for the film's armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, have claimed that on the day of the shooting, Gutierrez-Reed loaded three firearms with dummy rounds that were going to be used later that afternoon. In the case of dummy rounds, no gun powder is used and is instead replaced by a single BB. However, a spent shell casing discovered on set was believed to be a "live" round. A 'live' round means a real bullet was used as opposed to a blank round which is not real.

At last week's press conference, Allred stated that there were warning signs of dangerous conditions related to guns. She said "a camera operator had reported two gun discharges during a rehearsal in a cabin" and that "union camera operators and their assistants had walked off the job to protest working conditions including safety issues." Allred continued that Baldwin, "an industry veteran", "knew that the gun in question should never have been given to him by the assistant director and that he could not rely upon any statement by the assistant director as to whether or not the gun was safe to use." She also said that their lawsuit claims that the events that took place prior to the shooting "do not constitute simple negligence" and that Baldwin "chose to play Russian roulette." 

During the press conference, Mitchel followed Allred's statements with a tearful recounting of the day of the shooting and her 30-year experience in film production regarding safety. She said she saw "Alec going through his movement with the gun" moments before a "deafening loud gunshot." She said she saw Souza and Hutchins fall to the ground and that she immediately ran outside to call 911. Mitchel said that she was robbed of her new friend, that she continuously relives the terrifying incident, and that she hopes that what happened that day never happens on another film set again. 

The press conference concluded with Allred reading aloud the names of the producers being sued in the lawsuit. Baldwin meanwhile was spotted over the weekend playing soccer with one of his children in the Hamptons, outside of New York City.