New Mexico prosecutors knew “almost from the beginning” they would file charges in Rust’s death

Audio recordings of 911 calls made by the crew of Alec Baldwin’s Rust film have revealed desperate attempts to save their colleague and allegations of negligence.

Mamie Mitchell, the film’s script supervisor, made the call after Baldwin accidentally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and director Joel Souza, 48.

The group was filming the western in the desert outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico, when tragedy struck on October 21.

In her call, Mitchell, a veteran script supervisor with credits dating back to 1974, points the finger at the assistant director, accusing him of negligence.

Mitchell calls 911 and tells the woman who answers, ‘We need an ambulance at Bonanza Creek Ranch right now. We’ve had two people accidentally shot on a movie set by accident.’

While she is on the phone, Mitchell tells another person to “clear the way” to allow the ambulance easy access to the scene.

Mitchell is then transferred to the Santa Fe Fire and EMS department and in a panic urges a quick response.

Bonanza Creek Ranch. We had two people accidentally shot on a movie set with a prop gun.

‘We need help immediately. Bonanza Creek Ranch. Go.’

The 911 operators then ask Mitchell for his details.

Mitchell, who has worked on films such as No Country For Old Men, Sicario and 3:10 to Yuma, can be heard saying, “Sounds like someone else is calling an ambulance.”

Everyone should be. We need help.

Our director and camerawoman have been shot.

Then he asks someone on the set: ‘Are you going to take it on the road?’

The 911 operator asks, ‘So was it loaded with a live bullet or what?’

Mitchell replies, ‘No, I can’t tell you. We have two injured by a film shot.

As the phone operator enters the details, Mitchell can be heard saying to another person: ‘OK, this fucking AD who yelled at me at lunch asking about reviews, this son of a bitch.

Did you see him lean over my desk and yell at me? He’s supposed to check the weapons. He is responsible for what happened.

According to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court, the gun was one of three that the film’s gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez, had placed on a cart in front of the wooden structure where a scene was being played out.

Deputy Chief Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the car and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware it was loaded with live bullets, a detective wrote in the search warrant request.

It is not known if Mitchell was referring to Halls in the audio.

It was not clear how many rounds were fired. Gutierrez removed the casing from the gun after the shooting and turned the gun over to police when they arrived, according to court records.

On the call, the 911 operator tries to ask Mitchell how many people were injured, and confused, Mitchell replies, “No, no, I’m a script supervisor.”

The operator asks again, and Mitchell says, ‘Two that I know of. I was sitting there rehearsing and it went off and I ran out. We all got out, but we dubbed the camera and the director.’

She says to someone else, ‘They’re clearing the road, can you go back, go back to the city, go back to the western camp?’

The operator asks if there’s any serious bleeding, and a nervous Mitchell hands the phone to a man.

‘Hello?’ says the man.

‘Hello, I have a protocol of questions that I must ask. If I could answer them to the best of my ability,’ says the 911 operator. ‘Are you fully alert?’

The man replies: ‘Yes, they are alert.’

The operator asks if the bleeding is controlled and the man replies: ‘Let’s see if they let me get closer… No’.

It’s not clear if he’s saying the bleeding isn’t controlled or he can’t get close.

“We have one lying down,” he tells the operator, adding that they are near gate one and have a van ready to quickly escort ambulances to the right location.

A devastated Baldwin is shown bowing in front of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office after speaking with investigators.

Then a woman calls back and says, ‘Hi, I’m calling from Bonanza Creek Ranch. Actually, we need two ambulances, not one.

The operator replies, ‘Okay, now we’re making a call for someone else and we’ll send you two.’

The woman, her voice showing tension, replies: ‘OK. And that’s 10 to 15 minutes?’

“I don’t know, we’re delivering them right now,” the operator replies.

‘What? What?’ says the woman, sounding terrified as she talks to someone else.

We have two ambulances heading your way.

‘What?’ says the woman, then she talks back to the operator: ‘OK, thanks.’

The operator replies: ‘You’re welcome, bye-bye.’

Mitchell later said that he was standing over Hutchins when he was shot.

“I ran outside and called 911 and said ‘Bring everybody, send everybody,'” Mitchell told The Associated Press.

‘This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary woman, rare, very rare.

Mitchell said she and other crew members were attending a private memorial service in Santa Fe.

Baldwin described the murder as a “tragic accident”.

“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness at the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours. I am fully cooperating with the police investigation,” Baldwin wrote on Twitter.

“My heart breaks for her husband, her son, and everyone who knew and loved Halyna.”

No charges were immediately filed and sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said Baldwin was allowed to travel.

“He is a free man,” Rios said.