Nov. 12 (UPI) — Actor Alec Baldwin has filed a lawsuit over last year’s fatal shooting on the set of the “Rust,” accusing the film’s crew members of negligence.
The cross-complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday names the film’s first assistant director, armorer, ammunitions supplier and prop master as defendants.
“More than anyone else on that set, Baldwin has been wrongfully viewed as the perpetrator of this tragedy,” the actor’s attorney, Luke Nikas, said in the complaint. “By these cross-claims, Baldwin seeks to clear his name and hold cross-defendants accountable for their misconduct.”
Last year a civil suit filed by the film’s script supervisor Mamie Mitchell accused Baldwin of “playing Russian roulette” by pointing a Colt .45 revolver at the film’s cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, accidentally shooting and killing her.
Police have said that Hutchins was killed by a live round inside the gun.
Mitchell’s lawyer, Gloria Allred, told ABC News Friday his “cross complaint is a shameful attempt to shift the blame to others, just as he has done since he fired the fatal shot which killed Ms. Hutchins.”
“Mr. Baldwin appears to argue that he is the only one that is truly innocent … It was [Baldwin] that failed to make sure that the gun did not contain live ammunition in violation of industry protocols and common sense,” Allred said.
Baldwin’s complaint accuses armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed of having “failed to perform her job carefully and as a result a live round was loaded into the gun that she had negligently failed to identify.”
The lawsuit also claims that Baldwin has “suffered substantial damage” as a result of the defendants’ alleged negligence.
“He has suffered physically and emotionally from the grief caused by these events. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t think about, and suffer from, the events that happened that day,” the complaint said. “Baldwin has also lost numerous job opportunities and associated income. For example, he’s been fired from multiple jobs expressly because of the incident on ‘Rust’ and has been passed over for other opportunities.”
