Alec Baldwin Says He ‘Didn’t Pull The Trigger’ In ‘Rust’ Shooting

Topline

In Alec Baldwin’s first interview since cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot while filming the movie Rust in October, the actor claims that he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun, adding to the mystery of what happened on the set. 

Key Facts

Key Background

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department is still investigating how a suspected live bullet ended up on the set, where crew members have said no live ammo was stored or supposed to be. Attention has been drawn to the production’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director Dave Halls, who both said they inspected the weapon at some point before Baldwin shot it. Baldwin, who was both an actor and producer for Rust, has been named in two lawsuits from the movie’s script supervisor and a lighting technician over the shooting, who say there was negligence on the set and there was no reason in the script for the trigger to be pulled. 

Tangent

In a search warrant affidavit, Gutierrez-Reed’s father Thell Reed, who provided weapons training for the production, said the suspected live ammo may have ended up on set through the ammunition supplier Seth Kenny. Kenny provided “dummies and blanks” for the actors to shoot, but during weapons training used live bullets from a can filled with 200-300 live rounds. Kenny then “brought the can back to New Mexico,” and Thell Reed said the ammunition “may match” the suspected live rounds found at the Rust production.

Further Reading

‘Rust’ Search Warrant Suggests Live Ammo On Set May Have Come From Weapons Supplier (Forbes) 

‘Rust’ Script Supervisor Claims Baldwin Firing A Gun Was Not In Script For Scene That Led To Fatal Shooting (Forbes) 

Alec Baldwin, ‘Rust’ Producers Sued For Negligence Over Shooting (Forbes)