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Security guards at the film set of "Rust" in New Mexico (archive)
Photo: Cedar Attanasio / AP
A production company has alleged the assistant director who handed Baldwin the gun after the fatal shot of actor Alec Baldwin.
Dave Halls is said to have been fired from a film production in 2019 because of a gun accident, announced the company Rocket Soul Studios.
Hollywood star Baldwin accidentally shot 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on Thursday when he was firing a prop weapon while filming the western "Rust" in New Mexico.
Hutchins died in a hospital shortly after the incident.
In the now known incident in 2019, a weapon "discharged unexpectedly," as CNN reported.
A member of the sound crew was slightly injured and treated by a paramedic.
The person returned to the set a few days later.
Assistant director Halls had been dismissed on the day of the incident.
CNN reported on further allegations from 2019 on the set of the series "Into the dark".
At that time, too, Halls was assistant director.
There were complaints about him from the crew, among other things because he had not complied with the safety rules for the use of weapons and pyrotechnics.
He said "cold gun"
Halls has not yet commented on the new reports.
He is in the focus of the investigators because, according to a police report, he handed the gun to Baldwin with the words "Cold Gun" - an indication that the gun was not loaded.
According to the police, Halls did not know that there was live ammunition in the gun.
The Los Angeles Times had previously reported that employees on the set of Rust complained about inadequate safety precautions and poor working conditions.
According to this, Baldwin's stunt double accidentally shot twice with a gun a few days before the accident.
Police are investigating the death of cameraman Hutchins.
In addition to Halls, the focus of the investigation is also the film gun master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.
The 24-year-old is said to have been responsible for the security of the prop weapons during the shoot.
jpz / AFP / AP / Reuters