Film director who was shot by Alec Baldwin says it felt like being hit by a baseball bat

SANTA FE, N.M. – A film director who was shot by Alec Baldwin all the way through a film practice session — and survived — testified Friday at trial that he was coming near the cinematographer when he heard a loud bang and felt the bullet’s have an effect on.

“It felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my shoulder,” stated Joel Souza, who was wounded by the similar bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins at the New Mexico set for the impending Western film “Rust” on Oct. 21, 2021.

Souza by no means filed a criticism however was referred to as to testify as prosecutors pursue fees of involuntary manslaughter and tampering with proof towards film guns manager Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who maintains her innocence. Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on “Rust,” was one at a time indicted by a grand jury final month. He has pleaded no longer in charge, and a trial is scheduled for July.

Prosecutors are reconstructing a advanced chain of occasions that culminated in gunfire on a movie set the place are living ammunition is expressly prohibited.

Souza stated his workday started ahead of daybreak with the conclusion that six camera-crew contributors had walked off set. Hutchins put out pressing requires replacements, and filming was again underway by late-morning in an out of doors scene involving horses and wagons.

Work after lunch began with positioning a digital camera in preparation for an excessive close-up take of Baldwin drawing a gun from a holster inside of a makeshift church. Souza stated he moved in in the back of Hutchins for a nearer take a look at the digital camera perspective however by no means noticed the gun that shot him.

“I got up behind her just to try to see on the monitor, and there was an incredibly loud bang,” Souza stated. “This was deafening.”

Baldwin and his dealing with of firearms on set are coming beneath particular scrutiny in wondering by prosecutor and protection lawyers.

On Thursday, prosecutors performed video pictures of Baldwin pressuring the film armorer to speed up as she reloads weapons between scenes.

“One more, let’s reload right away,” Baldwin says on the shut of a scene. “Here we go, come on. We should have had two guns and both were reloading.”

Gutierrez-Reed will also be noticed temporarily loading a revolver.

Expert witness Bryan Carpenter, a Mississippi-based specialist in firearms protection on movie units, stated Baldwin’s instructions infringed on elementary business protection protocols and tasks of the armorer.

“He’s basically instructing the armorer on how to do their job … ‘Hurry up, give it to me fast,’” Carpenter said. “Rushing with firearms and telling someone to rush with firearms is not — not normal or accepted.”

On Friday, defense attorney Jason Bowles pressed Souza to remember whether the script explicitly called for Baldwin to point the gun toward the camera, where he and Hutchins were standing.

“And do you know whether, from the script, whether that firearm was supposed to be pointed towards the camera?” Bowles inquired.

“It’s not a matter of the script, really. For that specific shot, it was literally supposed to be the gun being pulled out sideways,” Souza said.

Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed is to blame for unwittingly bringing live ammunition on set and that she flouted basic safety protocols for weapons — partly by leaving the church rehearsal while a gun still was in use. Defense attorneys say it wasn’t Gutierrez-Reed’s decision to leave.

Souza said he only recalled seeing Gutierrez-Reed inside the church after he was shot.

“I remember at one point looking up and her standing there … distraught,” Souza stated. “I remember her saying, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry, Joel.’ And I remember somebody just screaming at her, and they just ushered her out.’”