Alec Baldwin charged with involuntary manslaughter over fatal shooting on Rust set

Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter following a fatal shooting on the set of Rust.

In October 2021, production on the western was suspended after the Hollywood actor’s prop firearm discharged during a rehearsal, injuring director Joel Souza and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Earlier this month, officials at the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office announced that Baldwin and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed will each be charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and on Tuesday, the pair were formally charged.

“Today my office formally filed involuntary manslaughter charges against Alec Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez-Reed in the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the Rust film set in Santa Fe County in October 2021,” the First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack Altwies wrote on Facebook. “Negligent use of a deadly weapon charges were also filed against Rust assistant director David Halls, who has pleaded no contest and has entered into a plea agreement that is pending approval.”

Under New Mexico law, involuntary manslaughter is a fourth-degree felony and is punishable by up to 18 months in jail and a $5,000 (£4,000) fine.

Baldwin has not yet commented on the news.

The actor has long argued that he never pulled the trigger on the prop gun, despite an FBI forensic report finding that the weapon could not have fired on its own.

Last October, the 64-year-old and producers reached a settlement with Hutchins’s family, with it agreed that the film could resume production in early 2023.