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Film church at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico, where the allegedly last photo of Halyna Hutchins was taken
Photo: Roberto E. Rosales / AP
“This is the last photo with Halyna from the set,” writes lighting technician Serge Svetnoy on Facebook next to an atmospheric shot from a film church on the “Bonanza Creek Ranch” in New Mexico - the location where camerawoman Halyna Hutchins was shot on Thursday died of a prop weapon.
In the picture, the 42-year-old can be seen together with Hollywood star Alec Baldwin, who fired the fatal shot, presumably without knowing that the gun was loaded.
Svetnoy also posted a photo of himself and a smiling Halyna during a break in filming.
"I've worked with her on almost all of her films," he writes on Facebook.
“We burned in the sun and froze in the snow.
We shared food and water. "
He was immediately aware of the tragic death of the 42-year-old: "Yes, I stood shoulder to shoulder with Halyna during the fatal shot that took her life and injured director Joel Souza," writes Svetnoy. “I held her in my arms while she died. Her blood was on my hands. "He now wants to tell his version of the events," I think I have the right to do so.
According to the lighting technician, negligence and unprofessionalism are the reasons for the death of his girlfriend and colleague. Several responsible persons on the set acted negligently: “The person who should have reported that a loaded weapon was on the set did not do so; the person who should have examined this weapon before it got on set didn't do so. ”Nor did the person who should have examined the weapon on location just before it was used. "The death of a person is the result."
Specifically, Svetnoy criticized the weapons master Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and the 30-year-old assistant director of the production, Dave Halls.
"It cannot be that a 24-year-old woman handles an arsenal professionally," he writes.
"It is not acceptable that your more or less same age friend from school, neighborhood, Instagram or God knows where from, acts professionally in this area."
Svetnoy criticizes austerity measures
Experts would need many years of experience in the film business to build up competence.
Even without an additional request from outside, they would know what to do to guarantee safety on the set.
He appealed to producers not to save at the wrong end and thereby endanger safety.
“To save pennies, they employ people who are not fully qualified for this complicated and dangerous job.
And they put other people's lives on the line. ”One must avoid a tragedy like the one with Halyna in the future.
“I don't want anyone to have to experience what I have experienced, what their husband Matt Hutchins and their son Andros have to go through, and the actor Alec Baldwin, (…) who has to live with the thought that he is someone's life on his conscience because of unprofessional people. "
The allegations made by the illuminator have not been confirmed by the police.
So far, there is also no concrete evidence of possible negligent behavior.
The investigation is ongoing.
As recently became known, the assistant director Halls had already been fired from a film production in 2019 because of a gun accident.
The company Rocket Soul Studios announced on Tuesday.
According to the Santa Fe police, Halls is said to have taken the gun from a trolley that the gunsmith is said to have stocked beforehand.
Then he handed the gun over to the actor Baldwin with the remark "cold gun", that is, allegedly not loaded.
Neither Baldwin nor Halls would have known the gun was sharp.
District attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told the New York Times that it was a "real weapon": "It was an antique pistol that fits into the era." Currently, the focus is on ballistic investigations.
The aim is to determine what kind of projectile was in the weapon from which the fatal shot fell on Hutchins.
Another central question is who loaded this projectile into the pistol.
When the film set was searched, "considerable amounts of ammunition were found," the New York Times quoted.
Now it has to be determined what type of ammunition it is.
In addition, three revolvers were seized, along with used and unused cartridges.
Baldwin was shocked and heartbroken over the tragic incident.
He assured the police of his full cooperation.
The shooting for the film "Rust" has been suspended until further notice.
"We're conducting an internal investigation into security logs," the production team wrote in response to a request from People magazine.
Please be patient until results are available.
The Los Angeles Times had previously reported that employees on the set of Rust had 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.
As things stand, there were no injuries.
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