Prop master tossed ammo after fatal "Rust" shooting

An attorney for Hannah Gutierrez Reed questioned a crew member for the movie “Rust” on Friday about her decision to throw away several rounds of ammunition in the hours after a 2021 fatal shooting on the set.

Sarah Zachry, the movie’s property master, told jurors that she tossed the rounds into a trash can from two firearms that she had loaded for actors other than Alec Baldwin.

The testimony came on the seventh day of trial in Santa Fe for Gutierrez Reed, 26, who faces charges of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with evidence in the Oct. 21, 2021, death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Baldwin, the movie’s lead actor and co-producer, was holding a .45-caliber prop pistol when it discharged on the movie set near Santa Fe, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Under questioning from Gutierrez Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, Zachry said the unknown number of rounds she threw away were not removed from the weapon Baldwin was holding.

She also said it wasn’t her intention to destroy evidence in a possible criminal investigation. Zachry said she did not tell officers the day of the killing that she had disposed of the rounds.

“They weren’t the rounds in question, so I didn’t think it mattered,” Zachry said.

Zachry also acknowledged that she tossed the rounds following a brief phone conversation with the owner of an Albuquerque ammunition supplier who sold prop rounds to the “Rust” production.

The trial is expected to continue into next week in 1st Judicial District Court before Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer.

The question of how live rounds were introduced to the “Rust” movie set is a central question in the trial.

Prosecutors have told jurors that investigators found six live rounds on the set following the fatal shooting.

They allege that Gutierrez Reed was responsible for bringing ammunition on the set that included both live rounds and harmless “dummy” rounds commonly used in the film industry.

Bowles has argued in court filings that the live rounds made their way onto the “Rust” set from the Albuquerque arms supplier that provided ammunition to the production, including .45-caliber dummy rounds.

Bowles told jurors in opening statements that Gutierrez Reed was a “scapegoat,” and that Baldwin and others in control of the low-budget Western were responsible for safety problems that led to the killing.

Zachry also testified that she was in “shock and panic” following the fatal shooting. The rounds she tossed all were dummy rounds, she testified.

Zachry, who said she served as an assistant armorer for the movie, acknowledged she was responsible for the accidental discharge of a blank round while she was loading a firearm prior to Hutchins’ killing.

Gutierrez Reed also is charged with tampering with evidence for allegedly asking a friend to hide cocaine for her while police were investigating.

Baldwin was indicted in January on a charge of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins’ death. His trial is scheduled in July.

The actor has pleaded not guilty to the charge, and his attorneys have said they will fight the charges.