Movie armorer on Alec Baldwin’s film ‘Rust’ pleads guilty to gun charge in separate case

The weapons supervisor in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin on the set of the Western film “Rust” pleaded guilty Monday to a separate criminal charge of carrying a gun into a licensed liquor establishment.

Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed agreed to change her plea to guilty on the charge in exchange for a reduced sentence of 18 months supervised probation.

Judge T. Glenn Ellington approved the agreement that allows Gutierrez-Reed to begin probation while serving out an 18-month prison term at a New Mexico state penitentiary for involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In the “Rust” case, prosecutors blamed Gutierrez-Reed for unwittingly bringing live ammunition onto the movie set and for failing to follow basic gun safety protocols.

Gutierrez-Reed shuffled into the Santa Fe courtroom Monday in a beige jumpsuit, handcuffs and ankle shackles to change her plea to guilty and waive her right to trial.

“I’d just like to apologize to the court and thank you for your judgment today,” she said.

The case stems from evidence that a few weeks before “Rust” began filming in October 2021, Gutierrez-Reed carried a gun into a downtown bar in Santa Fe where firearms are prohibited.

Special prosecutor Kari Morrissey said Gutierrez-Reed filmed herself in the bathroom of the bar with a handgun — explaining how she snuck in the prohibited firearm in a video that was obtained when authorities searched the armorer’s phone during the “Rust” investigation.

Gutierrez-Reed was convicted in March at trial of involuntary manslaughter in the fatal shooting of Hutchins. She has an appeal of that conviction pending in a higher court.

Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer for “Rust,” was pointing a gun at Hutchins during a rehearsal for the film when the revolver went off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.