Criminal charges against Alec Baldwin dropped in Rust film set shooting

Prosecutors in New Mexico have dropped criminal charges against the actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western movie Rust, according to attorneys for Baldwin.

Baldwin, 65, was pointing a Colt .45 pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal on 21 October 2021 when the gun went off, killing Hutchins and wounding the director Joel Souza.

ABC News and CNN first reported on Thursday that New Mexico prosecutors had dropped charges against Baldwin.

Investigators have not been able to determine how live rounds made it on set.

The news of the dropped charges come just weeks after Mary Carmack-Altwies, the New Mexico district attorney who charged Baldwin, stepped down from the case.

Also on Thursday Baldwin and other cast members resumed filming the movie in Montana, according to the production company.

The first assistant director, Dave Halls, was sentenced last month to a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to negligent use of a deadly weapon. Prosecutors had said he was responsible for set safety.