Rust crew member who nearly got injured sues Alec Baldwin and others

As Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies is denying rumors that the deadly shooting on the Rust set—in which a live round placed in a prop gun used by Alec Baldwin killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza—was the result of “sabotage,” another member of the Rust crew is speaking out about the “severe emotional distress” he has suffered due to his proximity to the incident.

This comes from CNN, which says Serge Svetnoy, the chief lighting technician on the Rust set, was “struck by ‘discharge materials’” when the gun went off and was apparently “narrowly missed” by the bullet itself. He blames the project’s producers for what happened, and he’s now suing Baldwin, assistant director David Halls, armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed, and various other people and companies involved with Rust.

“There was no reason for a live bullet to be placed in that .45 Colt revolver or to be present anywhere on the Rust set,” the lawsuit says, and the fact that the bullet was there at all means that the production failed to “implement and maintain industry standards for custody and control over firearms used on set.” CNN says that he believes that they didn’t hire a “competent and experienced armor.”

The lawsuit goes on to say that Svetnoy was “informed and believes” that “ammunition used on the Rust set was never stored securely and was simply left unattended in the prop truck.” Svetnoy has also posted on social media that he and Hutchins were “close friends,” having worked on nine films together, and he says he held her in his arms “while she was dying.” (She was later pronounced dead after being airlifted to a hospital.)

CNN reached out to the various parities involved in this lawsuit, but none of them offered a comment.