​Public Safety SME Comments on the Alec Baldwin Shooting

On October 21, 2021, Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and Director Joel Souza was injured after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a live round from a prop firearm on the set of Western movie “Rust” in Santa Fe, NM.

Mr. Baldwin was questioned by Sheriff investigators at the scene and is cooperating. Juan Rios, a
spokesman for the sheriff's office, said: "This investigation remains open and active. No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives."

He added that detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.

As the principal consultant with Mannes & Associates and during my tenure with the DC Metropolitan Police Department, Ariel Benjamin Mannes has served as a technical advisor and on-set advisor for film and television productions. "In my experience on set with Spielberg’s “Minority Report” as well as network television productions, firearms are strictly controlled by professional armorers who are supervised by prop masters.”

Mannes continued "When functional firearms are used in a scene, there is normally a total prohibition against live ammunition on set, and the armor loads and inspects blank rounds into the weapon before handing it to on-screen talent.”

Furthermore, major productions also employ technical advisors, usually from law enforcement or military backgrounds, who teach the talent how to properly use the weapons in their production. This helps talent, many of whom have never had training or combat experience, to realistically hold and use a firearm – the first lesson of which is that a weapon should never be pointed directly at someone in an uncontrolled, unsafe manner.

Santa Fe County Sheriffs responded to the Bonanza Creek Ranch, where “Rust” was in production, following emergency calls of a person being shot there. The production has been halted as a result of the incident.

Unfortunately, this is not the first high-profile death involving a prop gun on set. Brandon Lee, son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died while filming a death scene for the movie The Crow in 1993 when he was 28 years old. In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum was pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series “Cover Up” when he shot himself in the head with a prop gun blank and died.

“On the Washington, DC set of ‘Minority Report’, the Beretta PX4 weapon used by Tom Cruise was stored, inspected and transported to set by members of the Metropolitan Police Department, pursuant to DC’s then-unconstitutional firearms prohibition.” Mannes said “When we got to the set we assured that there was no live ammunition and monitored the armorer until production was wrapped.”

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Baldwin, 63, was seen Thursday outside the sheriff's office in tears but refused to comment.

Rust, which was due to keep filming until November, is about a 13 year old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother after his parents' death in 1800s Kansas, according to the Internet Movie Database. The teenager is sentenced to hang for accidentally killing a local rancher and goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather, played by Alec Baldwin.

About A. Benjamin Mannes: Ariel Benjamin Mannes, MA, CPP served municipally with the Long Beach, New York City, and DC Metropolitan Police Departments. In addition, Mannes was a federal officer with the Federal Protective Service assigned to the NY Terrorist Trials Operations Command and an Inspector and ISAC intelligence analyst with the Department of Homeland Security, serving through the 9/11 attacks, DC-area Sniper Task Force, and Hurricanes Katrina & Rita. Furthermore, Mannes has fought for criminal justice reform after his legal battle over DC’s unlawful firearms prohibition in 2005. Mannes later served as a risk management consultant and expert witness; and was as Director, Office of Investigations with North America’s Largest Medical Board from 2008-2017 and is currently on the Public Safety Advisory Board for Congressman Lou Barletta’s campaign for Pennsylvania Governor.