Lead projectile recovered from injured 'Rust' director, authorities say

SANTA FE, N.M. (KRQE) – During a news conference on Wednesday, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza stated that while it is still too early in the investigation to comment on possible charges, a live, lead projectile has been recovered from the shoulder of director Joel Souza after it was fired from a prop gun on the set of "Rust". Sheriff Mendoza said it would be left up to the medical examiner to determine if it was the same live round that killed the director of cinematography, Halyna Hutchins.

In addition to actor Alec Baldwin, who fired the prop gun, the sheriff also identified armorer Hannah Reed Gutierrez and assistant director David Halls as individuals who handled and inspected the gun prior to it being fired. All three individuals provided statements and have been cooperating with authorities in their investigation.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office has collected about 600 items of evidence through search warrants. This includes 3 firearms, about 500 rounds of ammunition, and several pieces of clothing and accessories. The 500 rounds were a mix of blanks, dummy rounds, and suspected live rounds.

"We believe that we have in our possession the firearm that was fired by Mr. Baldwin, this is the firearm that we believe discharged the bullet. We also believe that we have the spent shell casing that was fired from the gun. The actual lead projectile that was fired has been recovered from the shoulder of Mr. Souza," said Sheriff Mendoza.

The sheriff's office also believes it has recovered additional possible live rounds from the set. The gun fired by Baldwin was reported to be an F.LLI Pietta Long Colt revolver which contained other ammunition. The other two firearms recovered from the set were a single-action Army .45 revolver that was believed to have cylinder modifications making it nonfunctioning and a plastic nonfunctioning revolver.

All evidence items will be submitted to the FBI crime lab in Quantico, Virginia to be analyzed. The ballistic analysis will determine the exact specifics of the lead projectile recovered from Souza's shoulder and whether or not the rounds recovered were officially "live".

Elaborating further on the projectile recovered from Souza's shoulder, Sheriff Mendoza said, "We would consider it a live round, a bullet, live, because it did fire from the weapon and because it obviously caused the death of Ms. Hutchins, and injured Mr. Sousa."

"We know there was one live round as far as we're concerned, on set. We're gonna determine whether-- we suspect there were other live rounds, but that's up to the testing. Right now, we're gonna determine how those got there, why they were there. Because they shouldn't have been there," said Mendoza.

According to the Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies, nobody has been ruled out of potential charges. However, until a more thorough investigation takes place, the district attorney will not speak on possible charges or who they would apply to.

The SCSO is investigating claims that individuals were shooting firearms for target practice on the ranch property. Anyone with information regarding these claims or the discharge of firearms away from the film set is asked to contact the sheriff's office.

Authorities are also following up on previous accusations of negligence on other film sets. Anyone with information regarding safety issues or prior incidents is encouraged to call the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office at 505-986-2490.