Armourer jailed for 18 months over fatal shooting on set of the film Rust

The chief weapons handler on the set of the film Rust has been sentenced to 18 months in prison for the shooting of the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, by the actor Alec Baldwin.

- Guardian staff

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed was found guilty last month of involuntary manslaughter for mistakenly loading a live round into the revolver Baldwin was using. The judge said Gutierrez-Reed had failed to take responsibility for her role in Hutchins' death in 2021 and gave her the maximum sentence.

"You were the armourer - the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone," Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer said. "You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon. But for you, Ms Hutchins would be alive, a husband would have his partner and a little boy would have his mother."

The punishment is the most substantial criminal consequence yet in the legal fallout over Hutchins' death during the shooting of the western film. But the case, which has captivated Hollywood and the US, is still far from over. The trial of Baldwin, who was both an actor and co-producer on the film, is set for 10 July after a grand jury indicted him for involuntary manslaughter.