'Rust' Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed 'Can't Believe' Alec Baldwin Was Involved In Fatal Shooting

Wednesday was the fifth day in the trial of former "Rust" armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who became emotional when she saw a bloody photograph of slain cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who died on set after being struck by a bullet while shooting the Western film.

Although the gun was held by actor Alec Baldwin, the armorer has been charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter after being accused of negligence on set. She is also charged with tampering with evidence after prosecutors alleged that she tried to discard a bag of cocaine before her police interview on the day Halyna Hutchins was killed.

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has pleaded not guilty to both charges.

Over the past few days of the trial, the court heard testimony from dolly grip Ross Addiego, who gave emotional testimony about Halyna Hutchins' final moments, as he was actually in the church when the gun went off. The following day, the jury heard testimony from Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Heather Jarrell, who showed the jury photos of Halyna Hutchins' bloody body after the shooting.

Dr. Jarrell testified that she did not rule the death a homicide because she felt that it was not a “volitional act caused by another to cause fear, harm, or death.” However, she went on to state, “Looking at the material available to me through law enforcement reports it was apparent to me there was no obvious intent to cause death. It doesn't mean there was not negligence.”

On Wednesday, the jury was shown footage from Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s discussion with law enforcement officials following the fatal shooting. On the day of the shooting, she said that she picked up a box of dummy ammunition and shook them to hear the “jingle.”

As reported by The Independent, dummy rounds are often hollow with a ball bearing inside to easily distinguish them from live ammunition. However, she maintains that she does not know how live ammunition got inside the gun that was later handed to Alec Baldwin inside a church.

In body cam footage shown from Sante Fe County Sheriff Detective Alexandria Hancock, Gutierrez-Reed could be heard expressing shock that Alec Baldwin was the one holding the gun. “I can’t believe Alec Baldwin was holding the gun. That’s so f---ed,” she said in the video.

The court called for an afternoon break a little earlier than scheduled after the stenographer’s machine broke. This is only one of the latest string of hiccups to affect the trial, including a delay in opening statements after one of the jurors was involved in a car accident on the way to court. There have been frequent video and image issues and, at one point, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s private cell phone number was leaked.

However, after the stenographer’s machine was fixed, the court continued to hear Hannah Gutierrez-Reed talking with law enforcement officials. She said that Alec Baldwin had agreed to do more firearms training with her, but that film producers put a stop to it due to their hasty schedule. A dolly grip also testified to the rushed schedule of production last week.

During an interview that took place on November 9, 2021, Hannah Gutierez-Reed insisted that she had “never, not once” used live ammunition on set and insisted that the crew members never used real weapons. However, she said that the crew would have “been stoked” if they had been allowed to go shooting on set.

Sante Fe County Sheriff Detective Alexandria Hancock further testified that Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told her that she had loaded the gun by Alec Baldwin, even though she did not hand him the prop weapon inside the church. During questioning, Jason Bowles questioned if the “Rust” armorer had actually told Hancock that, as it was not on video, and conflicted with some of Hancock’s previous statements.

During the video shown by the prosecution, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said that she received the ammunition used on the day of the shooting from Seth Kenny. Bowles went on to question if Hancock tried to use a “ruse” to trick Gutierrez-Reed when she asked if someone had a reason to sabotage the set, given the crew walk-out the night before the shooting.

Later on, Bowles questioned Hancock’s credibility when she admitted to having an unrecorded phone call with a “suspect in a shooting case.” He also questioned how much practice Hancock had with the prosecution, but she refused to say how many days she visited with the prosecution to rehearse her responses.

Later in the day, Bowles had Hancock read a statement from Hannah Gutierrez-Reed saying, “I took them all out. It was there on the cart too" from the tape that was shown earlier, questioning whether the armorer did or did not say she loaded the gun.