Even without a formal investigation, there are clearly at least five guilty/negligent persons responsible for the tragic shooting on the set of Rust. And that includes the two victims!
I am not callous nor insensitve. I feel horrible about what happened to the two people caught in the line of fire. But I hate to have to tell you all, that they both share in the negligence.
Here is my list, so far, of who is guilty and why. The number one idiot on the set was the Armorer. She was totally derelict in her responsibility to supervise the weapons on the set. Not even getting into the issues related to misuse of the weapons by her and crew as "playtoys" -- her NUMBER ONE job is to check and recheck the firearms as they are given to the actors just prior to a take! Anyone and everyone who is serious about guns KNOWS that three cardinal rules must always be followed:
1) Treat every firearm as if it was loaded. ALWAYS open and clear the action before picking up a weapon, or handing it off to another person.
2) Never point or sweep the barrel in the direction of a person, or in the direction of anything that you don't want to shoot.
3) Keep your finger off of the damned trigger until you are safely aimed on target. Do NOT cock the hammer until you are ready to shoot and safely on target.
Did I mention the part about always check and recheck the weapon to make sure it is safe and unloaded at all times, unless you are ready to shoot!
So the Armorer failed to do her job.
The Assistant Director knew that was her job, but did not supervise her doing it. Big RED FLAG. The AD picked up a gun from a cart or table himself (RED FLAG), and failed to check it (bigger RED FLAG). The AD gives it to Baldwin, failing to check it (RED FLAG), and Baldwin takes it without checking (RED FLAG).
Baldwin knows he is going to point it in the direction of other people, yet did not check that the gun was unloaded. (RED FLAG) He cocks the hammer while aimed at people. (huge RED FLAG). And puts his finger on the trigger of a cocked gun, aimed at people (humongous RED FLAG).
The Director of Photography (may she rest in peace) and the Director know that they are in the line of fire, yet neither of them scream to check the gun! Both of them should have taken preventive action when they saw the potential danger and that no one was checking the weapons. They were running the set at that time!
There ain't enough money in Hollywood to allow any person on the set to wave a gun in my or any direction -- unless I personally grabbed that weapon and checked that it was safe. No, I am not talking about imaginary "what I would do's" -- I have worked on sets for most of my life and I am stating what I have done in those situations. Yes, I have jumped out of my director's chair (sound mixers sit in high director's chairs behind our soundcarts in order to see) and I have personally verified the status of the firearms. And if I did not see the Armorer check each firearm when handed off to the actor (just prior to the take) -- I would scream loudly to stop everything.
The people on that set were experienced and should have known better. None of them are excused. No one should have been hurt; we have too many protocols to prevent these kinds of tragedies and they were all ignored.
How a live bullet got into the gun is NOT the main issue. We practice safe gun handling on the set (and everywhere else for that matter) because we are taught that live rounds (for whatever reason) can find their way into "unloaded" firearms, so we always treat all firearms as being loaded until we personally verify that it is unloaded. And once that gun leaves our hands, even for a moment, we no longer consider it to be safe nor unloaded until we verify again.