Hannah Gutierrez-Reed: 'Rust' armorer ‘lawyering up’ after Halyna Hutchins shooting
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer in charge of the prop guns on Alec Baldwin's movie 'Rust' is reportedly "lawyering up" after the actor ended up accidentally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins dead. Friends of hers are worried that she has "gone dark."
A search warrant affidavit said that the armorer had laid out three prop guns on a rolling cart at the set in Bonanza Creek Ranch outside Santa Fe, and the assistant director handed one of them to Baldwin, yelling out that it was a “cold gun”, indicating it was believed to contain no live ammunition. However, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger, Hutchins was struck and killed. It went through her chest and struck Souza, who was standing behind the cinematographer.
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24 year old Hannah Gutierrez-Reed the set armorer that was hired by Rust Movie Productions and is responsible for all guns on the Alec Baldwin Western Film ‘Rust’ in New Mexico has deleted her TikTok and Twitter and also her Facebook and Instagram accounts. pic.twitter.com/NvCJiTUCMu
— 🌈 (@MagicZoetrope) October 24, 2021
According to the Sun, Gutierrez, who has been described as "green and inexperienced" by ex-co-workers has gone off the radar as her family desperately searches for the right lawyer to represent her. A source close to the 24-year-old exclusively told The Sun: "Her family are supporting her and helping her look for a good lawyer - they feel she's going to need one." Insiders have told the outlet that the armorer has "gone dark" and is "not ready to talk" about the tragic incident in Santa Fe. She is still believed to be staying there amid an investigation. "A mutual friend reached out and she said she wasn't ready to talk, and naturally we don't know what happened and who was negligent," one friend said. "It's unfair to make assumptions."
Gutierrez-Reed quits social media
The Hollywood Reporter noted in its report that "an attempt Friday, October 22 to reach Gutierrez wasn’t successful." It is not known for certain where Gutierrez is at the moment. Investigators probing the incident haven't named her as a person of interest. MEAWW also observed that Gutierrez's Instagram account with the handle "@no_son_of_a_gun" (which is a clever play on an infamous swear phrase) was deleted following the tragic incident. It was not immediately clear as to when the page went out of existence. "Sorry, this page isn't available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed," a message read when one tried to access her Insta account. According to social media reports, Gutierrez seems to have quit social media for good as she has also removed her accounts on Facebook, Twitter, and TikTok.
A former co-worker described the situation as "heartbreaking. They said: "I'm so worried for everyone involved. I imagine on a set that wasn't running well it would have been hard for Hannah to demand the authority she needed to do her job well. Or to demand ADs to respect the typical path, from the film's armorer straight to the actor. It sounds like a mess, and I encourage withholding judgment and supporting everyone."
Gutierrez-Reed worked with Nicolas Cage before Baldwin
Gutierrez's LinkedIn profile lists her base as Flagstaff, Arizona. Although she professionally identifies as a videographer, she did bag a recent gig as an armorer at the Yellowstone Film Ranch in Montana, from March to June of this year. Her duties included “loading firearms with appropriately sized blanks” and “ensuring gun safety on set along with instructing actors on how to use their guns.” Before working on 'Rust,' she was head armorer on 'The Old Way' with Nicolas Cage.
An ex-coworker who was on set with Gutierrez at both locations told The Sun: "She seemed like she was very goal-oriented and could hold her own. I'm sure that she had that chip on her shoulder, you know, being so young and wanting to prove herself. I had gotten an email [about the shooting], but I didn't realize that it was Hannah. I personally don't know how I could continue with my life … looking towards any sense of normalcy after something that horrific.
She added: "I have mixed emotions as we all make mistakes. Unfortunately in her line of work, you can't make mistakes. I'm just trying to wrack my brain around why there was any live ammunition because you're not supposed to have it in any scene. And on any movie set, it's a huge violation. I just don't understand how you pick up the pieces after something like this."