‘Rust’ Armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed Claims Exoneration After OSHA Report On Fatal Film Shooting Puts Safety Violations Blame On Producers & Supervisors

deadline.com:

Long in the spotlight for Alec Baldwin’s fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last October, the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed is now declaring a degree of vindication after a vital safety report was released today.“After OSHA’s very comprehensive safety investigation involving numerous interviews and review of documents, it has concluded that production willfully failed to follow national gun safety standards, which caused this tragedy,” said Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles to Deadline this morning. “OSHA found that Hannah Gutierrez Reed was not provided adequate time or resources to conduct her job effectively, despite her voiced concerns,” the Albuquerque, New Mexico-based attorney noted.In a damning report, Rust Movie Productions LLC and its management were hit Wednesday with a paltry $136,793 fine by the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for its “willful and serious” violation of workplace safety procedures during the filming of the indie Western.“Critically, OSHA also determined that production failed to call Hannah in to perform her armorer duties and inspect the firearm right before its use in the impromptu scene with Baldwin,” Bowles continued in his remarks for his client. “As we have stated before, had anyone from Production called Hannah in back into the church before the scene to consult with her, this tragedy would have been prevented.

Hannah has also reached out to OSHA recently in an effort to provide her suggestions for changes and improvement of safety standards on sets to avoid a tragic incident in the future.”With various lawsuit filed over the killing of Hutchins, including a wrongful death action from her family against Baldwin, the Rust producers, Reed and other