The family of Halyna Hutchins, the 42-year-old cinematographer who was shot dead on the set of “Rust” in October, filed a wrongful death lawsuit in Santa Fe against the film’s producers, Alex Baldwin, members of the crew, and the film’s production companies. In total, over two dozen defendants were named in the suit. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Hutchins’ husband, Matthew Hutchins, and their nine-year-old son.

Hutchins was shot and killed during a rehearsal for the film near Santa Fe, New Mexico. During the shooting, director Joel Souza was wounded but survived.

Baldwin was practicing a specific slow draw with a prop gun and fired the weapon toward Hutchins. That prop revolver, however, had live ammunition in it that killed Hutchins.

The civil lawsuit suit alleges multiple dangerous film industry violations by Baldwin and others involved with safety on the film set.

Attorney Brian Panish spoke at a news conference Tuesday, saying the film’s producers and film companies “cut corners and chose to hire the cheapest crew available.” Panish said the film company and producers “knowingly hired a wholly unqualified armorer.”

The armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, worked in two positions during the filming, serving as the assistant props master. Reed and the prop master Sarah Zachary are both named in the lawsuit.

Also named in the wrongful death suit is assistant director Dave Halls, who was the person who handed Baldwin the gun immediately before the deadly shooting. The prop gun was supposed to be a “cold gun” meaning there would be no live ammunition, including a bullet or blank, of any kind involved.

On film sets, “cold guns” have been used for decades, though deaths and serious injuries have occurred rarely. The Associated Press, in 2016, reported in an investigative article that “since 1990, at least 43 people have died on sets in the U.S. and more than 150 have been left with life-altering injuries.”

One of the most famous on-set shootings is the death of actor Brandon Lee, who died while filming the movie “The Crow” in 1993.

In a statement shared by CNN, attorney Aaron Dyer for Baldwin and his fellow producers of Rust said they are all working with authorities to discover how real bullets ended up in the prop revolver.

“We continue to cooperate with the authorities to determine how live ammunition arrived on the 'Rust' set in the first place,” said Dyer. “Any claim that Alec was reckless is entirely false. He, Halyna and the rest of the crew relied on the statement by the two professionals responsible for checking the gun that it was a 'cold gun' -- meaning there is no possibility of a discharge, blank or otherwise. This protocol has worked on thousands of films, with millions of discharges, as there has never before been an incident on a set where an actual bullet harmed anyone.”

Prop masters have the life-or-death role of being in total control of their props, including weapons. Prop masters work side-by-side with armorers, who specifically manage all guns on set. The prop masters and armorer team work closely with the stunt coordinators, directors, and producers, who all work together during the filming.

After the fatal shooting of Hutchins, in an interview on ABC Television with George Stephanopoulos, actor and producer of “Rust” Baldwin said, "The gun was supposed to be empty; I was told I was handed an empty gun. . . There’s only one question to be resolved ... only one. And that is, where did the live round come from?”

To prove a wrongful death suit, the attorney must prove a duty of care; breach of duty (negligence); causation; and damages.

Evidence of negligence could perhaps be found amid the allegations of severe cost cuts and safety warnings by crew members, plus a walkout by the crew in protest to their grim working conditions on set, all of which are public knowledge.

To find the plaintiffs guilty of wrongful death, it must be proven that the defendants breached their duty to Hutchins by allowing a live firearm to be used on set, leading to her death.

Damages can include numerous items, such as emotional distress, loss of potential income, pain and suffering of the victim before her death, and more. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.

Panish recreated the film’s church setting, using an animated recreation of the fatal shooting.

Referring to Baldwin in the video, Panish says, ”The gun cannot fire unless the trigger is engaged and the hammer is back. So he had the gun. He says he pulled the hammer back. It fired. She was killed.”

Panish also said, at his news conference Tuesday, that this “cost-cutting” on the film set was “reckless behavior” and that it led to a “senseless death.”

The Santa Fe Police are still investigating how bullets were placed in the prop gun. A date for the civil suit is not yet available.