Actor Alec Baldwin has been charged with involuntary manslaughter after an accident on a movie set.

While filming the movie “Rust” two years ago at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed when Baldwin was given a loaded prop gun which he used in a scene.

The scene was being shot in a small wooden church with Baldwin seated in a pew. He took the .45 Long Colt revolver from a shoulder holster and pointed it in the direction of the camera. The scene did not call for Baldwin to fire the gun, according to the lawsuit.

Baldwin, an actor, comedian, and producer known for his roles in “The Departed” and “Boss Baby,” was practicing his move of removing the gun from the holster when he heard the gunshot.

He said he could feel the gunpower from the gun strike his face and noises sounded muffled in both ears. The director, Joel Souza, said “what the f— was that!” and Baldwin repeatedly yelled “what happened?” Baldwin tried to help her as best as he could. A few hours later after paramedics took her she was pronounced dead. Baldwin was devastated by the events and broke down and wept. He was charged on Jan. 23.

Mary Carmack-Altwies, the Santa Fe District Attorney, told the New York Times, “on my watch, no one is above the law, and everyone deserves justice …  We’re trying to definitely make it clear that everybody’s equal under law, including A-list actors like Alec Baldwin.”

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a props assistant and on-set armorer, was also charged. She examined the gun by looking inside the barrel and, she claims, dummy bullets were inside the gun. Gutierrez-Reed was supposed to check all the bullets in front of Baldwin, but, in her defense, the gun was not meant to be used that day. Later that day, Baldwin decided to rehearse an unscheduled scene with the gun. Baldwin was given the gun without it being inspected and when he pointed the gun at the camera it fired, he said.

Baldwin says he did not pull the trigger and that the gun acted on its own. Safety protocols for movie sets state you should not point a prop gun at any human, according to the New York Times.

It still is not clear how live ammo was brought on set. It is speculated that Gutierrez-Reed accidentally purchased live ammo along with dummy bullets from the gun supplier.

In Jan. 2022, she filed a lawsuit against the company supplying guns and ammo to the film production. In the suit it appears she thinks the production’s primary prop manager and the owner of the supplier, Seth Kenny, set her up. There were two previous accidental gun discharges on set and Gutierrez-Reed criticized the prop manager, which is her reasoning to believe she was set up. Although she has said this, texts from Kenny and Gutierrez-Reed from months before were made public about Gutierrez-Reed’s interest on a different movie set to use live ammo, according to the New York Times.

In Feb. 2022, Hutchin’s family filed a lawsuit against Baldwin believing he unsafely handled the weapon. Baldwin then filed his own Lawsuit in Nov. 2022 against Gutierrez-Reed and the “Rust” producers for handing him a loaded gun to begin with.

Senior Max Fujimori believes that everyone is at fault.

“A gun loaded with an actual bullet should never be on set in the first place,” Max said. “It is the responsibility of the armorer, but he actually fired the weapon right at her, which is stupid.”

Junior Hudson Fulcher-Melendy does not think Baldwin is to blame.

“He was just doing his job as an actor and the people running the movie are at fault for giving him a loaded gun,” he said.