Armorer Accused of Loading Fatal 'Rust' Gun Spent Nights 'Drinking Heavily, Smoking Marijuana': Prosecutor

A stunning new allegation is being made about the armorer who prosecutors say loaded the fatal bullet into a gun on the "Rust" set.

In a new court filing, prosecutors claims that armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed may have been hungover on set the day of the shooting.

Alec Baldwin then used the gun Gutierrez-Reed allegedly loaded in the rehearsal scene when the weapon shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

“Witnesses in the current case will testify that Defendant Gutierrez was drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings during the shooting of Rust,” reads a legal brief filed by the special prosecutor and obtained by Inside Edition Digital. “It is likely that Defendant Gutierrez was hung over when she inserted a live bullet into a gun that she knew was going to be used at some point by an actor while filming a shooting scene with other actors and crew members.”

Gutierrez-Reid is now the only person from the 'Rust" set who could potentially stand trial for the fatal incident.

Charges were dropped against Baldwin in May for his alleged part in the shooting and the assistant director, David Halls, pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of unsafe handling of a deadly weapon.

HANNAH GUTIERREZ-REED LEGAL FILING

Baldwin, who had been facing up to five years in prison if convicted, has maintained from the start that he never once fired the gun he had during the scene in question.

The actor had been rehearsing a scene for the film "Rust" in New Mexico on Oct. 21, 2021, when he says the gun he was holding went off.

In addition to killing Hutchins, the blast also seriously wounded the film's director, Joel Souza.

Baldwin claims that he had been told there was no live ammunition in the gun.

The actor returned to a new set in May to finish filming the movie, which had been delayed due to Hutchins' death.

Gutierrez-Reed has entered a plea of not guilty to the charge of involuntary manslaughter.

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