“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed has been released from prison after spending more than a year behind bars for the on-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Gutierrez-Reed was freed Friday morning, having served about 13 months of her 18-month prison sentence. Sources told TMZ her early release was due to good behavior, specifically her completion of a drug program while behind bars.
Hutchins was participating in a rehearsal for a scene in the Western flick at New Mexico’s Bonanza Creek Ranch when she was fatally shot by a prop gun, handled by leading man Alec Baldwin on Oct. 21, 2021. He’d been seated in a church pew, practicing a move in which he whips a pistol from its holster, when it suddenly went off.
The 42-year-old cinematographer was pronounced dead a short time later, while director Joel Souza was also injured and transported to Christus St. Vincent’s Regional Medical Center by ambulance. He was later released from the hospital.
In March 2024, Gutierrez-Reed, who’d been tasked with overseeing weapons on set, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in connection with Hutchins’ death. An investigation into the matter determined she was likely hungover when she loaded the prop gun involved in the shooting.
Prosecutors also alleged she’d been drinking heavily and smoking marijuana in the evenings after production wrapped.
She was acquitted of a second charge of evidence tampering, which stemmed from allegations that she handed off her drugs to another person the day of the shooting.
Gutierrez-Reed will remain on parole until May 23, 2026.
Baldwin also faced an involuntary manslaughter count in connection with Hutchins’ death, but a judge later dropped the charge due to prosecutorial misconduct and evidence suppression.
