Assistant Director Admits Not Fully Checking Gun in Baldwin Shooting Accident
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The assistant director in the movie 'Rust' admits that he did not properly check the gun ahead of handing it to Baldwin.
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American actor Alec Baldwin
The man who gave Alec Baldwin the gun with which he shot the cinematographer of the movie 'Rust' admitted he did not fully check it ahead of giving it to the actor, as per documents revealed Wednesday. The Sheriff investigating the fatal shooting spoke of "complacency" on set, and the latest admission from the assistant director proves that.
The cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, died after Baldwin shot her with the Colt .45 he was pointing at a camera for a scene during the filming of 'Rust," a western-genre movie being filmed in New Mexico.
The bullet also injured director Joel Souza in the shoulder after it went through Hutchins's torso.
Assistant director Dave Halls told detectives he recalls seeing ammunition in the weapon ahead of handing it to Baldwin. Usually, moviemakers use inert, or dummy bullets in props.
"He advised he should have checked all of them, but didn't, and couldn't recall if (armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed) spun the drum" to show him what was inside the gun, an affidavit says.
Halls handed Baldwin the weapon using the phrase "cold gun," which means "an inert firearm" in the moviemaking industry.
A probe into last week's fatal shooting has recovered 500 rounds of ammunition from the set, according to what the Sheriff investigating the shooting told reporters. He also revealed that detectives believe the rounds found were a mix of blanks, dummies, and live rounds.
US law enforcement officers reported last Thursday that Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on a film set in New Mexico.
Legal experts told AFP that despite there being no doubt that Baldwin, 63, pulled the trigger, he is unlikely to be charged with a crime.
