New Mexico Police Footage Shows Alec Baldwin Rehearsing Pulling Vintage Colt That Killed Hutchins
08:07 GMT 26.04.2022 (Updated: 19:49 GMT 31.10.2022)
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Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died after a prop gun held by actor Alec Baldwin fired a live round during setup for filming a scene in October 2021. According to court records, Baldwin had been handed the firearm by the film's assistant director, Dave Halls, who said it was a "cold gun", or filled with blanks.
The actor also told his interviewers that "Hannah handed me the gun," referencing the armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, responsible for the safety of guns on set. His statement appears to contradict concurrent police reports that stated Dave Halls had handed Baldwin the gun.
In the videos, released by New Mexico police, Baldwin is seen in a church pew, reaching his right hand into his jacket, drawing the gun, and pointing it at the camera.
Other footage shows the actor being interviewed at the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, saying he felt "no recoil" when his .45-caliber Old West prop gun fired a live round on the set of the “Rust” movie, killing Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
20 February 2022, 10:07 GMT
The bodycam video is part of a trove of files, including interviews with key witnesses at the scene and later in the sheriff’s office, photos, and other evidence, amid the ongoing criminal investigation into the tragic incident that took place inside a small church at a ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on 21 October 2021.
“My only question is am I being charged with anything?" the actor is heard asking at the start of questioning by the Santa Fe Sheriff's Office in the clip.
After being told it was only an interview, Baldwin said: "We've done this for two weeks and we've done it the right way every day".
He then used hand gestures and described the moment of the shooting, imitating pulling out the gun slowly and cocking it.
“When I shot the gun, away from the cameraman, I never aim the gun at the camera, I turned and I went like this... And she was there. And the gun went off. And she just went right on the ground", Baldwin said in the clip, referring to Hutchins, making a gun with his fingers.
Court records state that Baldwin, who was one of the producers of the Western as well as its star, had been handed the firearm by the film's assistant director, Dave Halls, who told him it was a "cold gun", meaning it did not contain live ammunition. However, the prop gun contained live rounds when Baldwin pulled the trigger on the set.
"Bang! It went off, the first time ... it was the very first time we were shooting that shot, that we were rehearsing for that shot", said Alec Baldwin.
The actor also told his interviewers that "Hannah handed me the gun", referring to armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, responsible for the safety of guns on set. His statement appears to contradict concurrent police reports that stated Dave Halls had handed Baldwin the gun.
Gutierrez-Reed, 24, had set up the gun in question and two others, according to an affidavit from the Sante Fe County Sheriff's Office, and is currently suing the weapon's provider. She has alleged they supplied a mismarked box of ammunition containing live rounds.
In the released clips, Baldwin also insisted to detectives that his finger had been on the trigger, but that he did not pull it. He claimed he had pulled the hammer of the gun about three-quarters of the way back and then let it go before it discharged.
This aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., on Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021.
© AP Photo / Jae C. Hong
Other released bodycam footage showed first responders trying to help Hutchins and Souza on the church floor after the fatal incident, with Baldwin asking about their condition. A subsequent video clip appears to show a deputy officer talking to Baldwin on speakerphone, with the actor asking if a "defective" dummy round could have been responsible.
"So there's a chance that it was actually a dummy that was defective? I've never heard of that", Baldwin is heard asking on speakerphone.
Santa Fe authorities have since revealed that a mix of dummy rounds, blanks, and fully functional bullets were retrieved from the set after the shooting.
New Mexico police also released footage filmed from an officer's lapel camera in hospital, with the film's director Joel Souza, who described hearing a "loud bang".
"It felt like someone had kicked me in the shoulder… Then I looked over and saw the cinemaphotographer with blood coming out of her back. I think it went through her and into me", said Souza.
This comes as an investigation by the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau made public last week determined there had been serious safety violations on set and an “abandonment of industry norms”. Dave Halls allegedly handed Alec Baldwin the weapon without performing safety checks alongside Gutierrez Reed.
As a vast trove of documents was released by New Mexico police, certain evidence, such as analysis of Baldwin’s cellphone data, ballistics information, DNA, and fingerprints are yet to be made public.
Actor Alec Baldwin arrives in a New York City court, Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019, for a hearing on charges that he slugged a man during a dispute over a parking spot last fall
© AP Photo / Mark Lennihan
According to court documents pertaining to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Hutchins’ husband and son, Alec Baldwin aimed the weapon at Hutchins, toyed with the hammer while practising the scene, and the gun went off.
"I think it's clear what happened. Alec had the gun in his hand. He shot it. Halyna was killed", said Brian Panish, the family’s lead attorney, in February.
The lawsuit names Baldwin and a number of co-defendants connected with the movie’s production, alleging they "had the power to prevent her death if they had only held sacrosanct their duty to protect the safety of every individual on a set where firearms were present instead of cutting corners on safety procedures”.
Alec Baldwin has denied any wrongdoing in the incident, with his attorneys calling accusations of recklessness "entirely false". The criminal investigation remains ongoing, according to the sheriff’s office.
