According to Variety, a crew member alerted the producers of “Rust” about Dave Halls, the first assistant director, who had been sloppy with the safety of the set on a previous film.
Halls told the detectives that he neglected to properly inspect a gun before giving it to Alec Baldwin on the set of “Rust.” While practicing, Baldwin fired the gun, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding the movie director.
The anonymous crew member spoke about another incident taking place on the “One Way” movie set, where Halls was a first assistant director as well. The automobiles were driven by locals who weren’t stunt drivers. A second “One Way” crew member said there were also safety issues on site with Halls and vehicles. One more crew member said he had been informed about the safety concerns regarding Halls and added that the assistant director was seen losing his cool on set, as reported.
The set dresser on “One Way,” Jay Graves, also told Variety that he was nearly hit by a car twice during the filming. He explained that they were filming on the street but that it was not totally closed, allowing cross-traffic to pass past the set in between takes.
Jared Tyree, another crew member, was on set for a day. He told Variety that when two cars nearly collided, production was halted for roughly 30 minutes.
Molly Mayeux, the line producer on “One Way,” denied there were any safety issues on site, according to a spokesman for the producers. She guaranteed that all safety precautions were followed during the shooting of “One Way,” adding that she is appalled by the sources who are attempting to profit from such a tragedy.
Requests for comment from Halls’ lawyer went unanswered.
According to the producers of “Freedom’s Path,” Halls was sacked from another production in 2019 after an incident with a gun that went off unexpectedly.