Rust Gaffer Describes The Moment Halyna Hutchins Died In His Arms In Emotional Facebook Post
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Serge Svetnoy, the gaffer on the set of Rust, has described Halyna Hutchins’ death in an emotional Facebook post.
The cinematographer passed away last Thursday, October 21, after Alec Baldwin accidentally fired a ‘prop gun’ he believed was safe to use. The actor had been ‘practising his cross-draw’ at the time of the incident, and the shot also injured director Joel Souza.
Production on the western has been paused, not cancelled, pending a full investigation into Hutchins’ death. In the days following the incident, further details have emerged regarding the moments before the gun went off, including the account of Svetnoy, the chief electrician on the movie.
In a long Facebook post, Svetnoy discussed knowing Hutchins for years before Rust. ‘I worked with her on almost all of her films. Sometimes we’ve shared food and water. We’ve been burning under the sun, freezing in the snow on the shoots. We took care of each other. Yes, I can say with 100% confidence she was my friend,’ he wrote.
Coming after ‘many calls from different mass media sources from multiple countries asking to tell what happened’, he recalled ‘standing shoulder-to-shoulder’ with Halyna during this fatal shot that took her life and injured the director Joel Souza.
‘I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands,’ he wrote, adding that her death was the ‘fault of negligence and unprofessionalism.’
‘The negligence from the person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this; the person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; tthe person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it; and the DEATH OF THE HUMAN IS THE RESULT!’
A petition urging Baldwin to ‘use his power and influence in the Hollywood film industry’ to ban the use of real firearms on movie sets has reached nearly 45,000 signatures. ‘We need to make sure that this avoidable tragedy never happens again. There is no excuse for something like this to happen in the 21st century. Real guns are no longer needed on film production sets,’ it states.
Svetnoy also criticised the decision to hire Hannah Gutierrez-Reed as the armourer for the set. ‘There is no way a twenty-four-year-old woman can be a professional with armory… professionals are the people who have spent years on sets, people who know this job from A to Z,’ he wrote.
‘Dear Producers, by hiring professionals, you are buying peace of mind for yourself and the people around you. It is true that the professionals can cost a little more and sometimes can be a little bit more demanding, but it is worth it. No saved penny is worth the LIFE of the person!’
If you have experienced a bereavement and would like to speak with someone in confidence contact Cruse Bereavement Care via their national helpline on 0808 808 1677
Topics: Film and TV, Alec Baldwin, Halyna Hutchins, Now, Rust
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Serge Svetnoy/FacebookSerge Svetnoy/Facebook
