Alec Baldwin to Be Charged with Manslaughter in Set Shooting

Alec Baldwin to Be Charged with Manslaughter in Set Shooting

U.S. government lawyers announced Thursday that actor Alec Baldwin will be charged with involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of a cinematographer while filming a movie in New Mexico.

Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies issued a statement announcing the charges against Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who supervised weapons on the movie set.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died shortly after being wounded during rehearsals¹ for the movie Rust² on October 21, 2021. Baldwin was pointing a handgun at Hutchins when the gun went off, killing³ her and wounding the film director, Joel Souza.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza led the investigation⁴ into Hutchins' death. He described "a degree of neglect" on the film set. But his report did not say how live ammunition⁵ got on the film set. Filmmakers usually use ammunition without bullets, called blanks, on movie sets.

Baldwin was the co-producer of Rust. He is well known for his acting⁶ in the television show 30 Rock and for his work in the film The Hunt for Red October.

Baldwin has described the killing as a "tragic⁷ accident." He is taking legal action against people involved in handling and supplying the gun that was handed to him on the set. The actor said he was told the gun was safe.

In his lawsuit⁸, Baldwin said he pointed⁹ the weapon in Hutchins' direction while practicing with camera angles on the set. The gun then discharged.

New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator¹⁰ had ruled that the shooting was an accident after examining Hutchins' death and law enforcement reports. And New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau has fined the movie production company for safety failures.

A lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed has said she did not put live ammunition in the gun that killed Hutchins. Gutierrez Reed says she believes she was the victim of sabotage¹¹. But officials say they have found no evidence of that.

Investigators¹² found 500 pieces of ammunition at the movie set outside of Santa Fe. They were a mix of blanks and what appeared to be live ammunition. Industry experts have said live ammunition should never be on a movie set.

The family of Hutchins has settled a lawsuit against the producers of Rust. The agreement aims to restart filming the movie with Hutchins' husband as a producer.

Words in This Story

manslaughter - n. the crime of killing a person without intending to do so

cinematographer - n. the person who films a movie

neglect - n. lack of attention or care

1 rehearsals   

n.练习( rehearsal的名词复数 )；排练；复述；重复

参考例句：

• The earlier protests had just been dress rehearsals for full-scale revolution. 早期的抗议仅仅是大革命开始前的预演。
• She worked like a demon all through rehearsals. 她每次排演时始终精力过人。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 rust   

n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退

参考例句：

• She scraped the rust off the kitchen knife.她擦掉了菜刀上的锈。
• The rain will rust the iron roof.雨水会使铁皮屋顶生锈。

3 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

4 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

5 ammunition   

n.军火，弹药

参考例句：

• A few of the jeeps had run out of ammunition.几辆吉普车上的弹药已经用光了。
• They have expended all their ammunition.他们把弹药用光。

6 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

7 tragic   

adj.悲剧的，悲剧性的，悲惨的

参考例句：

• The effect of the pollution on the beaches is absolutely tragic.污染海滩后果可悲。
• Charles was a man doomed to tragic issues.查理是个注定不得善终的人。

8 lawsuit   

n.诉讼，控诉

参考例句：

• They threatened him with a lawsuit.他们以诉讼威逼他。
• He was perpetually involving himself in this long lawsuit.他使自己无休止地卷入这场长时间的诉讼。

9 pointed   

adj.尖的，直截了当的

参考例句：

• He gave me a very sharp pointed pencil.他给我一支削得非常尖的铅笔。
• She wished to show Mrs.John Dashwood by this pointed invitation to her brother.她想通过对达茨伍德夫人提出直截了当的邀请向她的哥哥表示出来。

10 investigator   

n.研究者，调查者，审查者

参考例句：

• He was a special investigator for the FBI.他是联邦调查局的特别调查员。
• The investigator was able to deduce the crime and find the criminal.调查者能够推出犯罪过程并锁定罪犯。

11 sabotage   

n.怠工，破坏活动，破坏；v.从事破坏活动，妨害，破坏

参考例句：

• They tried to sabotage my birthday party.他们企图破坏我的生日晚会。
• The fire at the factory was caused by sabotage.那家工厂的火灾是有人蓄意破坏引起的。

12 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》