The New Mexico Prosecutor’s Office (United States) has withdrawn the criminal chargess against actor Alec Baldwin for the shooting death of the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western film ‘Rust’ in 2021. This was confirmed this Thursday by Baldwin’s lawyers.

Baldwin, 65, was charged with two counts of manslaughter in January in the death of Hutchins and the injuries to “Rust” director Joel Souza, who was also shot. The actor was accused of showing a “reckless” disregard for safety in Hutchins’ death.

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

Baldwin pleaded already at the end of February not guilty of the charges that he was accused of and was released under the promise not to possess any weapon, not to drink alcohol and not to speak to witnesses of the shooting, according to the US network CNN at that time.

The actor shot the director of photography for ‘Rust’, Halyna Hutchins, last October during the recording of a scene for the film with a weapon that should have been a blank but that, for unknown reasons, was loaded. This event led to the accusation of both Baldwin and the gunsmith, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.