♪ this is "nightline." >> tonight, inside what happened on the "rust" film set. >> i let go of the hammer, bang, and the gun goes off. >> we hear from members of the crew. >> she was probably 18 inches, 2 feet away from the muzzle of the gun. >> the armorer's father. she's one of the people on the center of the investigation. >> you trust her on your sets? >> any set. yes, absolutely. >> plus looking back at another film tragedy and the lessons learned. >> they wanted to get this shot. so whatever it took to get the shot is what they did. >> "nightline," "the deadly take," will be right back. tums vs. mozzarella stick

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visit your volvo retailer for special offers during our holiday safely sales event. ♪ thanks for joining us. we're learning harrowing new details about the tragedy on the "rust" movie set. now for the first time, we're hearing from the friends of helena hutchins who were there, describing what they saw at the fatal moment when the gun went off. here's abc's kaylee hartung. >> reporter: on bonanza creek

ranch outside of santa fe, new mexico, 75 crew members, 22 principal actors, and hundreds of extras all converged on set with the singular goal of making the western movie "rust." >> the story is about this grizzled outlaw named harland rust. and that was the character played by alec baldwin. >> reporter: alec baldwin was both its star and a producer on the film. >> we're out here making a western. that's classic cinema right there. >> reporter: helena hutchins,ns, 24-year-old photographer originally from ukraine. >> it's a passion for sure. once you get the bug, you can't get out of it. >> "rust" was a big break. it was an opportunity for her to just show how good she was. >> this is a $7.5 million movie.

it is the catering budget on a d.c. comics movie. >> they were insisting upon having one person do two very important jobs. the armorer role, taking care of the guns and ammunition, and then they wanted that person to also be an assistant prop person. >> reporter: 24-year-old hanna gutierrez reid was hired as both armorer and prop assistant. she's the daughter of thell reid, a well-known hollywood armorer. >> hanna gutierrez reed has spent her life watching her father handle and oversee the use of firearms in any number of movies. >> she's been raised around gun safety and all that stuff when she was a little girl. she's so safe with the guns, the way she handles them, i don't have to worry about anything when i got her on the set. >> you trust her on your sets? >> any set, yes, absolutely. >> reporter: "rust" was supposed to be a 21-day shoot, and the low-budget movie was on a tight

schedule. >> i felt like it was a good pace for the level of the budget that we had. it ran smoother than anything of that budget i've ever been involved with, it really did. >> reporter: but not everyone agreed. >> the tone on the set was like, we need to go now, now, now. it just was a beat the clock kind of thing. >> reporter: tensions were quickly building among some crew members. by the 11th day of shooting, some members of the camera crew emailed the production office resignation letters, complaining about their housing accommodations and other concerns. one letter written by lane luper, first camera assistant, claimed during the filming of gunfights on this job, things are often played very fast and loose. so far there have been two accidental weapons discharges. this week, 25 members of "rust" cast and crew released a letter that alec baldwin posted on his instagram which they say was not sanctioned or influenced by the producers. it stated that the descriptions of "rust" as a chaotic, dangerous, and exploitive

workplace are false. the production team from "rust" told abc news that luper's allegations around budget and safety are patently false, adding, safety is always the number one priority in our films. the day got off to a rough tart. some members of the camera crew made good on their threats and quit. and the production had to scramble to hire replacements. >> before launch, there was a scene where there was some guns being used. at the end of those scenes being done, all the guns were collected and placed back in the safe. >> reporter: according to a search warrant, gutierrez reed told investigators she loaded five dummy rounds into baldwin's gun before lunch and a sixth after, when the gun was retrieved from a safe. >> when they come back from lunch, we get word that they're going to do this little insert shot of just the gun, that helena wants pointing right on

camera. >> the scene wasn't supposed to have any gunfire. >> the scene is the two guys are there, the other two actors who have got me cornered. i then draw the gun, cross draw out of my holster, pull the gun up like that, and start to cook the pistol. >> reporter: baldwin says he was told he has a cold gun, meaning the gun is empty or has dummy rounds. >> helena was telling alec she wanted to see his thumb working the hammer back to do the shot. she was probably 18 inches, 2 feet away, maybe, from the muzzle of the gun. >> i'm holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit. >> the cameras were not rolling, so there is no actual footage of this tragedy. >> i just pulled the hammer back as far as i could without cocking the actual gun. >> you're holding on to the handle -- >> holding on, saying is that

good? she says yeah. i let go of the hammer, bang, the gun goes off. >> then there was a scream. >> and then they look, and helena has instantly fallen back, and she's on the ground, and she is bleeding from her chest. >> immediately bleeding, and bleeding profusely. that's when it got real. oh my lord. >> she said, something happened with my stomach. i don't feel my legs. >> reporter: the film's director, joel souza, was also down and writhing in pain. >> amy mitchell, script supervisor, runs out and starts calling 911. >> 911, what is your emergency? >> bonanza creek ranch, two people accidentally shot on a

movie set by a prop gun, we need help immediately. >> reporter: as helena and joel are talking to hospitals, baldwin, the armorer, hanna gutierrez reid, and the assistant director jay halls were brought to the sheriff for questioning. >> i was there an hour and a half or so. finally one of the police officers, she slides the phone, that's what came out of the shoulder. a .45-caliber bullet. utter disbelief, it was unacceptable that it was a live round. >> the key grip gets a phone call. and -- it said that -- she's gone. >> reporter: an attorney representing hanna gutierrez reed says she has no idea where the live rounds came from. halls also told investigators he didn't know there were any live rounds in the gun. >> the trigger wasn't pulled, i didn't pull the trigger. >> you never pulled the trigger? >> no, no, no, no. i would never point a gun at

anyone and pull the trigger, never. that was the training that i had, you don't point at anyone and pull the trigger. >> reporter: halls confirms baldwin's account about not pulling the trigger. >> we determined there were other possible live rounds that were on set. >> reporter: the investigation into how live rounds wound up on the set is ongoing, and the fbi is now examining the handgun and ballistics. >> there were several things that went wrong. it wasn't just one accident. it was a series of perhaps just accidents, all put together, caused this really catastrophic breakdown on the set of "rust." when we come back -- >> first thing i thought when i heard about the tragedy on the set of "rust" was the terrible tragedy on the set of "midnight rider." >> someone got hit by a train. ...with rybelsus®. (♪ ♪)

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we're here tonight to mourn this loss and to share our collective grief. >> reporter: in los angeles, several hundred film industry colleagues mourn the loss of cinematographer halyna hutchins. >> after standing here seven years ago for sharon jones and sharing the stage with another family, we're here again. >> the first thing i thought when i heard about the tragedy on the set of "rust" and the killing of healyna hutchins was the terrible tragedy on the set of "midnight rider" and the

death of sarah jones. >> sarah jones was an assistant tv operator for "the vampire diaries." >> sarah, first time i saw her, she was literally right in front of my face. she was doing the slate. you couldn't help but notice sarah jones. just always wanted to be around her. >> reporter: in 2014, her career took her to savannah, georgia, for the film "midnight rider." ♪ not gonna let them catch the midnight rider ♪ >> "midnight rider" was a bio-pic about the life of greg allman, the big southern rocker, and to star william hurt. >> independent movie, budget $5 million, written, produced, and directed by a man named randall miller. >> she had mentioned to me that it is a low-budget film. and she was a little bit surprised that some of the people did not seem to have the level of expertise that she

expected. >> it was the first day of filming on a historic trestle. >> sarah and hairstylist joyce gilyard were among the crew. >> i was told that we were going to do a preshoot. i did not expect to be shooting an entire scene on the railroad trestle. >> i went straight over to where they were setting up. i began photographing and also taking behind-the-scenes footage. we were told that two trains had passed, and that was the schedule for the day, and that we wouldn't have to worry about more trains. >> it was going to be a dream sequence in which greg allman from his hospital bed would imagine duane allman, the guitarist, his late brother, somehow across the bridge. >> unbeknownst to their crew,

they thought it was permitted, it was not. there was no medic on set. and there had been no safety meeting. >> the director is the one who led everyone on the railroad tracks. because he wanted to get this certain shot with the band on the trestle. >> william hurt climbed onto the bed and asked, what do we do if there's a train? >> he asked how much time we would have to get off the tracks. >> they did say, you have 60 seconds to get off the track. i was more or less, 60 seconds to get off the track? and i started praying. i'm mad at myself because i didn't say something. >> we had only been on the tracks for five, maybe ten minutes. and that's when they yelled that there was a train coming.

>> i heard and i saw the train. and you just immediately started running. >> reporter: video captures the scream of the fast-approaching train's horn as randle miller and other crew members frantically try to yank the hospital bed off the tracks. >> it was total chaos. sarah jones was trying to get the expensive camera equipment off the track. >> it seemed to be so far away. and then all of a sudden just right there. >> reporter: the train struck joist gilyard's left arm after smashing into the hospital bed. >> sarah was the first person i saw. she was lying on the side of the tracks, dead. you didn't know it was her. >> reporter: sarah jones was just 27 years old. immediately after the accident, investigators are trying to find out who had failed to protect the "midnight rider" crew.

their investigation revealing multiple attempts by production to acquire permits to film on the tracks, including on the very morning of the shoot, had all been denied. >> my investigation shows that randall miller gave that decision, to tell everybody to move onto the tracks. >> randy miller had no perception of danger and was relying on his team that had never failed him, that he was in a safe place. he'd been told there were just two trains, and those had gone. >> reporter: but in fact, the "midnight rider" production had no way of knowing when a train might be coming. the railway operator. csx, told investigators it was one of their busiest tracks. >> they had probably 27, 30 trains pass through on that track a day. per day. information started to emerge about how randall miller and his wife, jody savin, were these guerilla filmmakers who played

by their own rules. he'd actually laugh and brag about breaking safety protocols, whether it was having a little child running around in a pasture with cows -- >> i don't think it's dangerous to have a little kid run through cows, do you think? no, no, no. >> or throwing a piano down the stairs. >> this is a real house, and i don't think they fully knew we were going to drop a piano down their staircase. >> the train hits the bed and the bed flies up, and apparently a portion of the hospital bed strikes sarah and pushes her into the train. >> there were several injuries on that track that day. it wasn't just the death of sarah. but there were seven people injured. >> reporter: sprft supervising crew, including director randy miller, were tried for criminal trespass and involuntary man slaughter in the death of sarah jones. randall miller became the first director in the history of the movies to go to jail for a death on the set. >> the first, hillary schwartz,

union production manager jay sedrish, both got ten years probation. >> it has been seven years since the tragedy on "midnight rider." hearing about what happened on the set of "rust," it's such a horrific tragedy. of someone losing their life again. >> here in the "rust" case, there are still questions about who was responsible and how it happened. >> i see many similarities and parallels between sarah and helena. they both loved the camera. and their deaths were so senseless. so unnecessary. it should not have happened. >> we are. >> we are. >> we are. >> sarah jones. >> sarah jones. >> sarah jones. >> reporter: when sarah lost her life seven years ago, many in the industry added her name to slates she once held, marking every shot with a tribute to

her. now what leyna hutchins' name is being added next to sarah's. >> how many more names need to go on a slate before the needed changes are made in this industry so it just will not happen again? >> our thanks to kaylee. up next, friends of halyna hutchins share thoughts on her legacy. [upbeat acoustic music throughout] [upbeat acoustic music throughout] ordinary tissues burn when theo blows. so puffs plus lotion rescued his nose. with up to 50% more lotion, puffs bring soothing relief. a nose in need deserves puffs indeed. america's #1 lotion tissue. ♪

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when you have the world's longest list you go to ross so you can work that budget and get those savings. i love saying yes to more merry for less at ross. last week, an emotional tribute to hall leyna and her work hit her husband matthew in attendance. >> let's take a moment to look at her work. ♪ ♪ >> her work was exquisite. her framing of the shots. her colors were beautiful. she really cared a lot about the scenes. >> filmmaking for her was really a higher calling.

she had the soul of a poet and so much integrity as an artist. >> she was an incredible cinematographer, and she was a great friend, a mother, a wife, a daughter. and she is our sister. >> and that's "nightline" for tonight. you can watch all our full episodes on hulu. see you right back here same time on monday. thanks for staying up with us. good night, america. have a great weekend.