The gun that actor Alec Baldwin used on the set of his western “Rust” contained live ammunition, according to police. The investigators announced this on Wednesday at a press conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The released projectile could be secured, said Sheriff Adan Mendoza. It was in the shoulder of the injured director Joel Souza (48). The same bullet had previously killed the cameraman Halyna Hutchins (42).
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The main actor and producer Baldwin (63) had fired the weapon, now designated by the police as a 45 Colt revolver, during the rehearsal for a scene.
There are indications that there was more live ammunition on the set. However, further examinations in a weapons laboratory are necessary for this, said Mendoza. During the search of the filming location, the investigators had seized around 600 pieces of evidence, including three weapons and around 500 ammunition loads and blank cartridges. One of the weapons was described as a harmless plastic revolver.
The investigations continued, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said. It is too early to decide on a possible charge. “All options are on the table,” emphasized the lawyer. At this point, no one is excluded from a possible procedure.
Everyone involved, including Baldwin, would cooperate with the police. The focus is also on the two employees on set who handled the guns: a 24-year-old gun master and the assistant director to whom Baldwin handed the gun. According to a police report, the assistant director had told the actor that it was a “cold weapon” without ammunition.
According to his own statement, the assistant did not know that there was a cartridge in the weapon. This employee was fired in 2019 because of a similar incident in a film, previously reported by numerous US media. While shooting “Freedom’s Path”, a sound technician was slightly injured after a gun went off unexpectedly on the set, it was said, citing the production company of the film.
According to media reports, criticism was also raised against the young gunsmith, who was responsible for the proper handling of all weapons on the set. “Rust” was reportedly only the second film in which she was involved in this role.
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Suspicions of lax security were also supported by a report from the news site “The Wrap” that some crew members allegedly used live ammunition to shoot beer cans in their spare time. The sources were not named.
Accordingly, such a target shooting would have taken place in the morning, a few hours before the fatal incident on the set, said “The Wrap” journalist Sharon Waxman on Monday the broadcaster CNN. One of these weapons was later passed on to Baldwin on the set. The police could not initially confirm the information, but announced that this was being investigated. (dpa)