Alec Baldwin’s charges to be dropped in movie set shooting case

Charges have been dropped against Alec Baldwin in the 2021 fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his Western movie “Rust,” his lawyers said Thursday.

New Mexico prosecutors plan to drop an involuntary manslaughter charge.

“We are pleased with the decision to dismiss the case against Alec Baldwin and we encourage a proper investigation into the facts and circumstances of this tragic accident,” Baldwin’s attorneys Luke Nikas and Alex Spiro said in a statement.

Filming was to resume Thursday on the set of its new location in Montana, 18 months after the shooting.

The office of New Mexico First Judicial District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies declined comment to NBC News on Thursday.

Baldwin was pointing a pistol at Hutchins during a rehearsal when the gun when off, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Baldwin has said the gun went off accidentally and that he did not pull the trigger. An FBI forensic report found the weapon could not have fired unless the trigger was pulled.

Gutierrez-Reed’s attorneys said that they “fully expect at the end of this process that Hannah will also be exonerated.”

“The truth about what happened will come out and the questions that we have long sought answers for will be answered,” the lawyers, Jason Bowles and Todd Bullion, said in a statement.

The case against Baldwin had already been diminishing. A weapons charge that would have meant a much longer sentence had already been dismissed, and the first special prosecutor appointed in the case resigned.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.