Alec Baldwin shooting: Actor’s daughter defends father as sheriff confirms no-one cleared in probe

Details emerge of events that unfolded on ‘Rust’ set

Alec Baldwin: Police don’t rule out criminal charges for actor after Rust shooting

Criminal charges could still be filed in the probe into Halya Hutchin’s death, US police have said. The focus of the investigation is on how live ammunition came to be on the set of the movie project where the fatal incident took place.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said that “all options are on the table” and that “no one has been ruled out” of potential charges.

Police made the announcement at a news conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Wednesday, six days after the movie-set shooting that left the 42-year-old cinematographer dead.

Investigators said that a “lead projectile” was removed from the shoulder of director Joel Souza and that it appeared to be a live round. Actor Alec Baldwin fired the gun that killed cinematographer Halya Hutchin’s on the set of their film Rust.

Santa Fe sheriff Adan Mendoza has said that officers are “not exactly sure of [Baldwin’s] present whereabouts”, although the actor is said to be cooperating with authorities and had not been instructed to remain in New Mexico.

Mr Bladwin has since been sighted in Vermont with family.

Key Points

• Details emerge of events that unfolded on Rust set
• Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza were hit by the same bullet, say police
• Santa Fe County DA says she was ‘completely astonished’ when she heard of Rust shooting
• Santa Fe County sheriff’s office recovered 500 rounds of ammunition from the set of Rust
• Ireland Baldwin supports dad Alec amid investigation
• How and why was there live ammunition on set?

[27 October 2021 17:25 · Clemence Michallon]

Authorities don’t rule out possible charges

New Mexico authorities have not ruled out the possibility of multiple charges in Alec Baldwin’s fatal on-set shooting – including for the actor himself.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies offered their first public update on the case on Wednesday, almost a week after Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of his film Rust, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Read more below:

[27 October 2021 17:45 · Clemence Michallon]

Investigators to probe on-set circumstances

Police in New Mexico will probe tensions on the Rust set that led to a walkout hours before, with the sheriff declaring that “there was complacency” towards weapon safety.

Read our developing story:

[27 October 2021 18:07 · Clemence Michallon]

Investigation continues

Authorities say they have recovered a lead projectile believed to have been fired from the gun used in the fatal movie-set shooting.

Testing is being done to determine whether the lead projectile recovered from director Joel Souza’s shoulder was fired from the gun — a long Colt revolver — used by Baldwin. Two other guns seized include a single-action revolver that may have been modified and a plastic prop gun that was described as a revolver.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said it’s too early to comment on whether any charges will be filed. He also noted that 500 rounds of ammunition — a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live rounds — were found while searching the set.

The sheriff would not comment on how the rounds got on set.

Investigators said they will also be following up on reports that there were other incidents involving misfires with guns used on the set.

District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said investigators can’t say whether it was negligence or by whom at this point.

Both the sheriff and district attorney said they will not rush to judgment and that more investigation is needed.

(AP)

[27 October 2021 18:29 · Clemence Michallon]

Details emerge of events that unfolded on Rust set

Alec Baldwin fired a single bullet which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and then lodged in the shoulder of directorJoel Souza on the set of the movie Rust, police have confirmed.

While police said they were continuing their investigation, and prosecutors said they had not ruled out the option of bringing charges against anyone, including the 63-year-old star, police said it appeared Baldwin had fired a single round from a .45 Lee handgun.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said the bullet had been passed to investigators by medical officials who removed it from the shoulder of the injured director.

Read more below:

[27 October 2021 18:52 · Clemence Michallon]

How movie prop guns work

Prop guns include both real guns as well as toy guns or defunct weapons. The former are typically used to add an element of authenticity to close-up shots, as pointed out by firearms expert Cameron Brown in an article for American Cinematography magazine.

[27 October 2021 19:15 · Clemence Michallon]

What happened and what are the rules about using prop guns on set?

Here is what we know so far about the events of 21 October:

[27 October 2021 19:34 · Clemence Michallon]

Details emerge in affidavit

Assistant Director Davis Halls told police that when Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “showed him” the gun later used by Mr Baldwin “before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds,” an affidavit filed on Wednesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, and obtained by The Independent, shows.

Mr Halls “advised he should have checked all of them, but didn’t and couldn’t recall” if Ms Gutierrez-Reed “spun the drum” the legal document stated.

[27 October 2021 20:13 · Clemence Michallon]

Authorities to look into “rumours” and “statements”

Police in New Mexico will probe “tensions” on the Rust set that led to a walkout hours before the fatal shooting of the cinematographer and the wounding of the movie’s director, with the sheriff declaring that “there was complacency” towards weapon safety.

Around half a dozen crew members allegedly walked off the set of the movie on the morning of the shooting to protest working conditions on the low-budget western, according to reports.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza was asked about “tensions on the set” and reports of crew members allegedly drinking the night before the accident, which saw actor Alec Baldwin fire what he thought to be an unloaded prop gun, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

“I wont talk about specifics but we are aware of those rumours, or those statements that have been made, and we are going to do our best to track those down,” he told a Wednesday press conference in New Mexico.

[27 October 2021 20:53 · Clemence Michallon]

New details emerge, charges still a possibility

New details about the incident emerged on Wednesday during a news conference by Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies and in an affidavit filed by the local sheriff’s department.

Mendoza also told reporters there was a complacent attitude towards safety on the set.

Mendoza and Carmack-Altwies said that while no charges have been filed, they are not ruling out that possibility.

"All options are on the table. ... No one has been ruled out at this point,” Carmack-Altwies said referring to potential criminal charges.

(Reuters)

[27 October 2021 21:21 · Clemence Michallon]

Ammunition collected as evidence

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said that authorities have collected 600 pieces of evidence including three firearms, 500 rounds of ammunition – some believed to be live bullets – and several pieces of clothing and accessories in the ongoing investigation.

Some evidence is being sent to an FBI crime lab for analysis, Mendoza said.

Authorities have the firearm used in the shooting, Mendoza said, and they recovered the bullet from the shoulder of director Joel Souza, who was wounded but later released from the hospital. Mendoza said it appears the same bullet struck Souza and Hutchins.

(Reuters)