“Rust” Armorer Found Guilty of Involuntary Manslaughter In Set Shooting

It took the jury less than three hours to come back with a guilty verdict for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed on involuntary manslaughter charges. Gutierrez Reed was also charged with tampering with evidence, but she was acquitted of that charge. She could face up to 18 months in prison when sentenced.

As the film’s armorer, Gutierrez Reed’s job was to handle the guns and she loaded a live bullet into Alec Baldwin’s pistol. That led to the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director Joel Souza. The trial lasted two weeks with testimony about safety lapses on set. Remains to be seen if this outcome is a sign of things to come for Baldwin, who fired the fatal shot and faces his own manslaughter trial in July.