Prosecutor says criminal charges against Alec Baldwin over set shooting not ruled out
The Santa Fe District Attorney refused on Wednesday to rule out filing criminal charges against actor Alec Baldwin over the fatal shooting on the set of filming the movie “Rust”.
Baldwin killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with a prop gun during the filming of the of the move in New Mexico.
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“All options are on the table. No one has been ruled out at this point,” Mary Carmack-Altwies said in a press conference when asked about the possibility of Baldwin being charged.
Baldwin was handed the gun by the film’s assistant director Dave Halls. Halls told Baldwin it was a “cold gun” – a phrase referring to a gun without live ammunition.
The film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, was responsible for handling the weapons on the set and ensuring they were secure.
She told detectives that on the day of the incident guns were secured while the crew ate lunch, but that ammunition was not, according to an affidavit submitted to a court Wednesday.
Halls said when Gutierrez-Reed showed him the gun as it was brought on set for rehearsal, he remembers seeing three “dummy” rounds.
“He advised he should have checked all of them, but didn't, and couldn't recall if she spun the drum” to show him the chamber, the affidavit says.
Sherriff Adan Mendoza had told reporters that there was “complacency” on the set of the film.
Mendoza told reporters more questions were being asked of the people who “inspected or handled the firearm... before it got to Mr. Baldwin.”
“We're going to try to determine exactly how that happened and if they should have known that there was a live round in that firearm.”
It emerged this week that Halls had been sacked from a previous production because of gun safety violations.
With AFP
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