Rust ammunition supplier defends himself against accusation that he brought live ammo to set
Seth Kenney took the stand today as the trial of Hannah Gutierrez-Reed over the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins grinds on
Aux News Rust
Rust ammunition supplier Seth Kenney took the stand today in the involuntary manslaughter trial of armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed today, as the mystery of where the live round that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza came from only deepens. “I started to sense that there were efforts to redistribute blame or the cause of this accident,” Kenney testified when he took the stand (via Deadline), suggesting that he was put on the spot by Gutierrez-Reed’s father, veteran armorer Thell Reed, a man whom he had considered a friend “for a few years at that point.” Reed and his daughter’s attorneys “essentially ultimately try to blame the live ammunition on the set of Rust …somehow came through me,” he continued.
While it was initially suspected that Kenney was responsible for the presence of live ammo on set, a previous probe by the Santa Fe sheriff’s department found that the bullets in the supplier’s shop did not match the ones found on the Rust set. Testimony from today also confirmed that Kenney was rarely present on set in the first place.
Kenney did purchase the brand new Colt .45 gun (specifically made for Rust) that Alec Baldwin was holding when it discharged and killed Hutchins, but he testified that he only provided a “single box” of 50 Colt .45 dummy rounds that came directly from the set of Taylor Sheridan’s 1883, which he also worked on. However, the supplier could not provide definitive dates for when he traveled back and forth between the 1883 and Rust sets, an omission which left defense lawyer Jason Bowles “more than a little incredulous,” Deadline reports.
Kenney also discussed his relationship with Gutierrez-Reed. In a call transcript read out in court, the supplier apparently said, “shit, shit, shit, well she still didn’t do her fucking job,” on a call with the Santa Fe sheriff’s department shortly after Hutchins’ death. Still, he denied the defense’s assumption that he was trying to blame the young armorer for the incident at the time while on the stand.
He also addressed the “expletive-filled” last text conversation the two had before the shooting occurred on October 21, 2021, which he said was “related to an accidental discharge of a blank on the set of Rust.” He also called Gutierrez-Reed “emotional” and said he felt she owed him an apology. Later, he read out a separate conversation in which Gutierrez-Reed wrote, “You just send me out to do these things and don’t teach me / Shame on both of you,” and reiterated that he never actually wanted her to be fired. “She was doing a horrible job at props… I had mixed feelings about it,” he said, describing the “mixed bag of emotions” he felt about working with the inexperienced daughter of his friend. “If I really wanted her fired, I could have gotten her fired,” he added.
If found guilty, Gutierrez-Reed could go to state prison for up to three years on charges of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering.
10 Comments
She seems to spend a lot of time looking over her shoulder.
Kenny admitted he had live ammo he took home from an 1882 “Cowboy Camp” where he taught the actors to shoot with live rounds, and he’s really bad at keeping track of stuff, and his shop looks like somebody’s attic, with boxes and bags stacked all over the place, so it’s not hard to believe he mixed some live rounds in with the dummies.And the prop woman, who was one of Hannah’s bosses, also worked for Kenny, and she threw some rounds into the trash after calling him after the shooting.On the other hand, the craft services woman said Hannah asked her to hold a baggie of white powder after the shooting, so if she was high on the set, that’s pretty negligent.I’m not sure Hannah’s innocent, but I’m not sure Kenny is either. He’s probably more culpable than Baldwin, and he’s going on trial.
I’d say anybody who buys prop ammo from Kenny from now on is taking a chance after seeing how he runs things, so he’s probably out of business now at least.
Every blank and every dummy round is clearly identifiable as such; if such identification is not made the round is considered live. Gutierrez-Reed had an obligation to check every round on receipt and to check again while loading the gun. She should have maintained her own locked ammo container and not allowed anyone else to access it. If Kenney sent live rounds she should have identified them when she opened the box and read him the riot act, informing him that if he did not contact every customer of his about the problem and they called her to confirm they had checked or purged their stock, she would call as many as she could find and he would likely never work again. As to Baldwin, just like a doctor saying “I didn’t look at the vial before injecting a lethal dose,” he’s also negligent for the shooting because he did not witness Gutierrez-Reed checking while loading the gun to see they were all dummy rounds. Hell, he could have pulled the trigger 6 times, aimed into a water trough, just to be sure. Would not have affected the workings of the gun. Plot armor should not protect actors making movies.
As to Baldwin … he’s also negligent for the shooting because he did not witness Gutierrez-Reed checking while loading the gun to see they were all dummy rounds. That’s a weak argument IMO. As an actor, he’s not responsible for knowing the difference between live and dummy rounds. That is why the multiple safety procedures exist – safety procedures that work and keep people safe when they’re followed. Gutierrez-Reed and David Halls were negligent in their duties to check the gun before handing it to Baldwin. It’s true that if Baldwin had checked it himself and saw a live round, this tragedy wouldn’t have happened, but as an actor, checking the gun for live rounds is not one of his responsibilities.That’s not “plot armor;” that’s the precedent set by years of standards and safety procedures.
As a human being checking the gun IS Baldwin’s responsibility. It was also his right according to his actors’ union contract (this is why George Clooney always checks the gun on set). Baldwin killed Hutchins during a rehearsal. There was no need for any object to be in the gun’s chambers. Therefore, Baldwin should have emptied the gun’s chambers. He killed Hutchins because he did not take 30 seconds to empty the gun AND because he pulled the trigger even though the script did not say he should pull the trigger. Many people on this set were unforgivably careless with a deadly weapon. Baldwin was/is one of those people.
As a human being checking the gun IS Baldwin’s responsibility.It’s clear from your comments and previous conversations with you that you believe Alec Baldwin bears responsibility for killing Hutchins, and nothing I or anyone else says is ever going to convince you, and that’s fine. I really don’t feel like re-litigating the numerous flaws of our justice system, but if it’s not blindingly obvious by now, I’m discussing the culpability of the people involved in terms of legal consequences, precedents, etc. that they realistically can and should face. I mean, it was my dad’s responsibility to raise me, but no one locked him up when he ran out to buy a carton of cigarettes and didn’t come back, because it’s not against the law to be a deadbeat dad. It was also his right according to his actors’ union contractI never said it wasn’t his right. Just because something is his right, doesn’t make it his responsibility. I’ve never heard of someone being charged with negligence for not exercising a right. Baldwin killed Hutchins during a rehearsal. There was no need for any object to be in the gun’s chambers.Exactly. There was no need for any objects to be in the chamber, so why would Alec think that he was being handed a loaded gun? Therefore, Baldwin should have emptied the gun’s chambers. This very well may be added to production safety procedures going forward in the future. I guess we’ll see. He killed Hutchins because he did not take 30 seconds to empty the gun30 seconds can be an eternity on set. That’s one of the reasons why responsibilities like checking the gun for live ammo are delegated to other people. Maybe this will also change in the future (though always worth mentioning that the existing safety protocols for firearms have kept cast and crew members safe for years, but they have to be followed to work). Many people on this set were unforgivably careless with a deadly weapon.True.
Thirty second can only be an “eternity” if you use them to neglect basic, universal gun safety and therefore kill someone causing their life to end for all eternity. If you do not know how to drive then do not drive. If you do not know how to handle a gun safely then do not handle a gun. ALWAYS assume a gun is loaded. After you have emptied all of the gun’s chambers CONTINUE TO ASSUME IT IS LOADED AND THEREFORE DO NOT POINT THE GUN AT ANYTHING YOU DO NOT WISH TO DESTROY. Also do not pull the trigger unless you wish to shoot someone/thing. Finally, do not value money over human life.
It wasn’t Baldwin’s responsibility to check the gun. But it was absolutely his responsibility to NOT point a real, working gun in the direction of other people and pull the trigger regardless of whether or not he believed it had real bullets in it.
Why on earth would there even be live ammo of a movie set at all? Wouldn’t that be the single most prudent safe thing to do? So, no matter what happened there would always be just a blank in a gun? I know blanks can harm and potentially kill but in this situation if the gun Baldwin had would have had blanks all that would have happened would be some powder burns at most.
I wonder if they have any behind the scenes footage from on the set. Like security camera footage or door camera footage. Maybe someone even shot some footage on their phone documenting what was going on on set. The more footage found and poured over that reveals what went on on set the better culpability could be ascertained. When I first heard about this shooting and realized that Halyna Hutchins was Ukrainian I thought there might somehow be a connection with the war in Ukraine. You know the one between the Russians and the Ukraine. But who on set has Russian ties AND had the motive to want to set that up?