Alec Baldwin, ‘Rust’ armorer formally charged with manslaughter

Alec Baldwin has been formally charged with involuntary manslaughter following the fatal shooting of a cinematographer on the set of his movie “Rust.”

The Santa Fe, N.M., district attorney’s office filed the charges against Baldwin and “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed on Tuesday. Both were charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.

The charges, which were first announced earlier this month, came more than a year after the October 2021 shooting of Halyna Hutchins, the movie’s cinematographer who was killed after authorities say Baldwin fired a live round from a prop gun while rehearsing a scene for the Western.

“Rust” director Joel Souza was also injured in the shooting on the set of the New Mexico production.

In charging documents filed in the First Judicial District Court, Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies cited Baldwin’s “reckless handling of the firearm” and, as the film’s producer and star, his failure to “mitigate numerous reckless and dangerous actions during a very short time period.”

In the case of a trial, jurors would decide which of the involuntary manslaughter charges would apply, The New York Times reported on Tuesday. Baldwin and Gutierrez-Reed face up to 18 months in prison on the lesser charge and a mandatory five-year sentence on the other charge, according to the paper.

A law firm representing Baldwin, 64, told ITK on Tuesday it would have no additional comment, after earlier this month saying the district attorney’s decision to file charges was a “terrible miscarriage of justice.”

In a Tuesday post on Instagram, the Academy Award winner’s wife, Hilaria Baldwin, thanked supporters “during this unimaginable time, stemming from such heartbreaking tragedy.”

Updated at 4:37 p.m.