Hannah Gutierrez, ‘Rust' western movie armorer, released from prison
Gutierrez was released Friday from a New Mexico women's prison after completing her sentence in the accidental shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021.
Gutierrez was one of three people charged in Hutchins' death on the movie set south of Santa Fe, N.M., but the only one who received a felony conviction. A jury found her guilty of involuntary manslaughter in Hutchins' death following a dramatic two-week trial last year in Santa Fe.
New Mexico prosecutors faulted the Arizona woman for reckless handling of firearms and ammunition in violation of gun safety rules.
The special prosecutor also argued that Gutierrez had unwittingly brought the live bullets with her to the popular western film location, Bonanza Creek Ranch, and mingled them with inert 'dummy' bullets used on film sets.
Gutierrez has denied that allegation. There was no conclusive evidence presented about the origins of the live bullets.
Baldwin, who pointed the gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal, also was charged. He pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter for the shooting that killed the 42-year-old cinematographer, a rising star in the industry, and wounded the film's director, Joel Souza.
The New Mexico judge overseeing the 'Rust' criminal prosecutions, New Mexico 1st Judicial District Court Judge Mary Marlowe Sommer, dismissed the charge against Baldwin three days into his high-profile trial last July.
Marlowe Sommer found the prosecutor and Santa Fe County sheriff's deputies had concealed evidence from Baldwin's legal team, which the judge said prejudiced the case against Baldwin. At the time, the actor-producer's team was exploring whether prosecutors and sheriff's deputies botched the investigation into how the bullets made their way onto the set.
Assistant director David Halls was also charged in the shooting.
Halls pleaded no contest to negligent use of a deadly weapon and received a suspended six-month sentence, which ended in October 2023. Halls, who has since retired from the industry, agreed to pay a $500 fine, participate in a firearms safety class, refrain from taking drugs or alcohol and complete 24 hours of community service.
Gutierrez had received the maximum sentence for her role.
She was released on parole. She also is being supervised under terms of probation after pleading guilty to a separate charge of unlawfully carrying a gun into a Santa Fe bar that prohibited firearms a few days before the fatal shooting, according to the Associated Press.
Terms of her parole include mental health assessments and a ban on firearms possession.
Gutierrez, through her attorney, declined an interview request Sunday.
'When I took on 'Rust,' I was young and I was naive but I took my job as seriously as I knew how to,' Gutierrez told the judge during her April 2024 sentencing hearing.
Marlowe Sommer, who also presided over the armorer's case, gave Gutierrez the maximum sentence, saying: 'You were the armorer, the one that stood between a safe weapon and a weapon that could kill someone. .. You alone turned a safe weapon into a lethal weapon.'
With Gutierrez's release, the criminal phase of the 'Rust' saga has concluded.
Several civil lawsuits against Baldwin and the producers, including from Hutchins' family members, remain unresolved.
Baldwin and other actors and crew members finished filming in Montana, 18 months after the fatal shooting in New Mexico. The movie was finally released on just a handful of screens.
The October 2021 shooting shined a harsh light on film set safety, particularly on low-budget productions.
'Rust' was racked with problems, including allegations of safety rules and hiring inexperienced crew members such as Gutierrez. 'Rust' was just her second job as head armorer. She also was tasked with the job of prop assistant.
Hours before the fatal shooting, 'Rust' camera crew members had walked off the job to protest safety concerns and a lack of housing near the film's set. Crew members complained about earlier accidental gun discharges.
Gutierrez is the stepdaughter of well-known Hollywood armorer Thell Reed.
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Tens of thousands flee their homes as Thailand and Cambodia clash
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Thailand's army on Friday denied it targeted civilian sites in Cambodia, and accused Cambodia of using 'human shields' by positioning their weapons near residential areas. As the fighting intensified, villagers on both sides have been caught in the crossfire, leading many to flee. Around 600 people took shelter at a gymnasium in a university in Surin, Thailand, about 80 kilometers from the border. Evacuees sat in groups, on mats and blankets, and queued for food and drinks. Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai was accompanied by four cats in two fabric cages. She said she was doing laundry at her home near Ta Muen Thom temple when shelling began Thursday. 'I just heard, boom, boom. We already prepared the cages, clothes and everything, so we ran and carried our things to the car. I was frightened, scared,' she recalled. Rattana Meeying, another evacuee, said she had also lived through the 2011 clashes between the two countries but described this flare-up as worse. 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Families with children were seen packing their belongings on home-made tractors to evacuate, though a few men refused to leave. Several hundred Cambodian villagers have evacuated to a remote Buddhist temple surrounded by rice fields. Women rest in hammocks, some cradle babies, while children run about. Makeshift plastic tents are being set up under the trees. Veng Chin, 74, pleaded with both governments to negotiate a settlement 'so that I can return to my home and work on the farm.' The conflict marks a rare instance of armed confrontation between member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar. Malaysia, the current ASEAN chair, expressed concern. 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But things got worse when a land mine wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday. That led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia's envoy to Thailand. Thailand also sealed all land border crossings and urged its citizens to leave Cambodia. Officials said all seven Thai airlines were willing to help evacuate nationals. Cambodia retaliated by downgrading diplomatic ties and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. On Thursday, clashes broke out along the border. Both militaries accused the other of using drones before escalating to artillery and rockets. Thailand said it responded with airstrikes after Cambodian forces launched truck-mounted rockets. The Thai air force said F-16 jets carried out two bombing runs on Cambodian positions. Cambodia claimed those bombs landed near the Preah Vihear temple, a UNESCO World Heritage site that has been at the center of past disputes. 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Tens of thousands flee their homes as Thailand and Cambodia clash
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Cambodia's chief official in Oddar Meanchey province, Gen. Khov Ly, said a man died instantly Thurday after a Thai rocket hit a Buddhist pagoda where he was hiding. At least four civilians were also wounded in Thursday's fighting there. Advertisement Thailand's army on Friday denied it targeted civilian sites in Cambodia, and accused Cambodia of using 'human shields' by positioning their weapons near residential areas. Thousands flee villages near the border As the fighting intensified, villagers on both sides have been caught in the crossfire, leading many to flee. Around 600 people took shelter at a gymnasium in a university in Surin, Thailand, about 80 kilometers from the border. Evacuees sat in groups, on mats and blankets, and queued for food and drinks. Seamstress Pornpan Sooksai was accompanied by four cats in two fabric cages. She said she was doing laundry at her home near Ta Muen Thom temple when shelling began Thursday. 'I just heard, boom, boom. 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Homes stood locked, while chickens and dogs roamed outside. Advertisement Some villagers earlier dug holes to create makeshift underground bunkers, covering them with wood, tarpaulin and zinc sheets to shield themselves from shelling. Families with children were seen packing their belongings on home-made tractors to evacuate, though a few men refused to leave. Several hundred Cambodian villagers have evacuated to a remote Buddhist temple surrounded by rice fields. Women rest in hammocks, some cradle babies, while children run about. Makeshift plastic tents are being set up under the trees. Veng Chin, 74, pleaded with both governments to negotiate a settlement 'so that I can return to my home and work on the farm.' ASEAN chair calls for calm The conflict marks a rare instance of armed confrontation between member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nation, though Thailand has tangled with Cambodia before over the border and has had sporadic skirmishes with western neighbor Myanmar. Malaysia, the current ASEAN chair, expressed concern. Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said Thursday he spoke to both Cambodian leader Hun Manet and Thai Acting Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai and urged them to open space for 'peaceful dialogue and diplomatic resolution.' Malaysia is willing to facilitate talks, he said. U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has also called for restraint and urged both countries to resolve disputes through dialogue, according to U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq. A longstanding border problem Border tensions between the two nations are not new. Their 800-kilometer (500-mile) frontier has been disputed for decades, with past confrontations typically limited and brief. The last major flare-up in 2011 left 20 dead. The current tensions broke out in May when a Cambodian soldier was killed in a confrontation. The two countries said afterwards they agreed to de-escalate the situation, but both continued to implement or threaten measures including trade and travel restrictions, keeping tensions high. Advertisement But things got worse when a land mine wounded five Thai soldiers on Wednesday. That led Bangkok to withdraw its ambassador from Cambodia and expel Cambodia's envoy to Thailand. Thailand also sealed all land border crossings and urged its citizens to leave Cambodia. Officials said all seven Thai airlines were willing to help evacuate nationals. Cambodia retaliated by downgrading diplomatic ties and recalling all Cambodian staff from its embassy in Bangkok. On Thursday, clashes broke out along the border. 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Fighting along disputed Thai-Cambodian border enters second day
Fighting has resumed for a second day between Cambodia and Thailand at several locations along their disputed border, Thai and Cambodian officials told CNN on Friday. Clashes broke out at 4:30 a.m. local time on Friday after Cambodia initiated firing, using small arms and heavy weapons, Col. Richa Sooksuwanon, the deputy spokesperson for the Thai army, told CNN. The Thai army responded with artillery fire, he said. The Thai army in the region also posted on Facebook in the following hours into Friday morning, warning that its forces were conducting bomb disposal operations and recovering bodies from the Kantharalak district that had been hit by Cambodian rockets on Thursday. It warned that clashes were taking place in two locations in Ubon Ratchathani province and one in Surin province, and urged the public to avoid the area. Heavy weapon and rocket fire had been reported coming from Cambodia, it said. The fighting broke out on Thursday following months of tensions along the two countries' 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border, Thursday's clashes saw exchanges of small arms and rocket fire, with Thailand later scrambling F-16 jets and bombing what it said were military targets inside Cambodia. At least 14 people have been killed so far in Thailand, mostly civilians, according to Thailand's Ministry of Public Health. Meanwhile in Cambodia, at least one person has been killed and five wounded, according to Met Measpheakdey, a spokesperson from Oddar Meanchey province. He added that as of Friday morning, tensions were 'still heated.' 'The exchange of fighting… is still happening,' he said. More than 4,000 people in Cambodia have been displaced from their homes near the border, the Associated Press reported on Friday, citing another official from Oddar Meanchey. The recent flare-up came after five Thai soldiers were injured in a landmine explosion on Wednesday. But tensions had been building since May, when a Cambodian soldier was killed during a clash between Thai and Cambodian troops in which both sides opened fire in another contested border area of the Emerald Triangle, where Cambodia, Thailand and Laos meet. Thailand and Cambodia have a relationship of both cooperation and rivalry. They share a 500-mile (800-kilometer) land border — largely mapped by France when it ruled Cambodia — that has periodically seen military clashes and been the source of political tensions. But it's not an evenly matched fight. Thailand's military dwarfs Cambodia's in both personnel and weaponry; its 361,000 active-duty personnel is three times Cambodia's manpower. And the United States classes Thailand as a major non-NATO ally, enabling Bangkok to enjoy decades of US support for its weapons programs. Thailand's military has long been a major player within the kingdom's politics and has seized power in multiple coups, often toppling democratic governments. It portrays itself as the ultimate defender of the monarchy. After the fighting began Thursday, several nations urged the neighbors to de-escalate and avoid further conflict, including Japan and the US. CNN's Patrick Sarnsamak and Len Leng contributed reporting.
