DA investigating Alec Baldwin shooting knows who loaded gun that killed Halyna Hutchins
DA dismisses claims of ‘sabotage’ on sets of the film
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The district attorney investigating the fatal shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin’s film Rust has confirmed that she knows who loaded the prop gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
Appearing on Good Morning America on Wednesday, Mary Carmack-Altwies provided an update on the deadly shooting that sent shockwaves through Hollywood.
Ms Carmack-Altwies said she knew who loaded the gun that Baldwin discharged while rehearsing on set, but declined to comment further on the subject.
Baldwin believed the gun was “cold,” meaning it contained blank rounds and was safe for use.
During the interview, Ms Carmack-Altwies also refuted claims of sabotage by a “disgruntled” crew member.
Last week, an attorney for Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed alleged that someone had placed a live round in a box of dummy rounds with the purpose of “sabotaging” the set of the film.
Ms Gutierrez-Reed is one of four people who handled the gun that killed Hutchins, making her a focal point of the investigation.
The armourer has claimed that she loaded the gun from a box of rounds labelled “dummy,” indicating they were blank rounds.
On 21 October, Mr Baldwin accidentally misfired a prop gun that killed 42-year-old cinematographer Hutchins and wounded the film’s director, Mr Joel Souza.
While discussing the case on Wednesday, Ms Carmack-Altwies said: “I know that some defence attorneys have come up with conspiracy theories and have used the word ‘sabotage’. We do not have any proof.”
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
Watch Apple TV+ free for 7 days
New subscribers only. £8.99/mo. after free trial. Plan auto-renews until cancelled
She added that the prosecution doesn’t have the “same information” defence attorneys do, and till it is made available to investigating authorities, “it doesn’t play into the decision making process”.
The DA also said that she was aware more live rounds were found on set, in addition to the bullet that claimed Hutchins’s life, but did not reveal the exact number. She admitted that the question of how live rounds made their way to the set remains one of the most important factors “going into a charging decision”.
Ms Carmack-Altwies explained: “It’s probably more important to focus on what led up to the shooting because the moment of the shooting, we know that at least Mr Baldwin had no idea that the gun was loaded, so it’s more how did that gun get loaded, what levels of failure happened and were those levels of failure criminal?”
She also denied the claim that Rust assistant director David Halls did not handle the prop gun on the day of the shooting.
It has been reported that Mr Hall signalled that the gun was “cold” and handed it to Mr Baldwin, after grabbing it off a prop cart.
“Yes, that does seem to be the case,” Ms Carmack-Altwies confirmed, when asked if Mr Halls was the person who gave the 63-year-old actor the gun.
But Mr Halls’ lawyer, Lisa Torraco, had told Fox News on 1 November that that “absolutely did not happen.”
She had added that it was not the assistant director’s responsibility to check the gun. “If he chooses to check the firearm because he wants to make sure that everyone’s safe, he can do that, but that’s not his responsibility,” Ms Torraco said.
Mr Halls was fired from the 2019 film Freedom’s Path when a prop gun “unexpectedly discharged” on set, injuring a sound technician. He has previously said that he did not check all the rounds in the gun barrel before handing it to Baldwin.
The DA concluded that the investigation into the shooting is still underway, adding that her office had not ruled out pressing charges yet.