Hannah Gutierrez Reed biography: 13 things about ‘Rust’ armorer

Hannah Gutierrez Reed is an American film armorer from Bullhead City, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. She was the head armorer of the Alec Baldwin starrer “Rust”, which was filmed in Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA.

Joel Souza wrote and directed “Rust”. David Halls was the first assistant director while Halyna Hutchins and Bianca Cline were the cinematographers.

Nicolas Cage starrer “The Old Way”, which was released on January 13, 2023, was the first film that employed Reed as the head armorer. She was supposed to be an assistant armorer on his next film “Butcher’s Crossing” but the position was cut, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Rust” marked the second time Reed worked as the head armorer of a film. Here are 13 more things about her:

1. She grew up on film sets in Hollywood, California, USA often tagging along with her stepfather Thell Reed, a weapons expert and a stuntman born in Downey, California.
2. While attending studying cinematography and film production at Northern Arizona University in Flagstaff, Arizona, she made documentary films for Flagstaff and worked as a videographer for an electronic music company.
3. She is 55 years younger than Thell and 39 years younger than Baldwin.
4. She was 18 years younger than Hutchins.
5. In 2007, she visited the set of the film “3:10 to Yuma” where Thell worked as a gun coach and the key armorer.
6. In 2020, she graduated from Northern Arizona University.
7. In March 2021, she started working as an armorer.
8. In August 2021, on the set of “The Old Way”, Cage yelled at her after she fired a gun near the cast and crew without warning twice in three days, the film’s key grip Stu Brumbaugh told TheWrap. She also allegedly handed a gun to Cage’s co-star Ryan Kiera Armstrong, then 11, without properly checking it first. 
9. In September 2021, she said on the “Voices of the West” podcast that she was so anxious about being head armorer on “The Old Way” that she almost did not take the job because she was not sure if she was ready and loading blanks into guns was the scariest thing to her.
10. She was responsible for firearm safety and storage on the set of “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe. On October 21, 2021, production was stopped after a gun discharged while in Baldwin’s hand, wounding Souza and fatally shooting Hutchins.
11. In January 2023, she was charged with two counts of involuntary manslaughter.
12. She and Baldwin were each charged with firearm enhancement, which was dropped on February 20, 2023.
13. She was 26 years old when she was found guilty on March 6, 2024 of involuntary manslaughter in a trial in New Mexico.