The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department and Santa Fe District Attorney held a press conference today, Wednesday, October 27 in New Mexico to discuss the current ongoing investigation on the set of “Rust.”
Last week, tragedy struck the movie set which stars Hollywood veteran, Alec Baldwin. He also serves as a producer on the film.
Director of Photography, Halyna Hutchins, was shot and killed by a prop firearm last Thursday, October 21st. Director Joel Souza was also injured from the firearm.
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Since the tragic death of Hutchins, an investigation has been opened to see how such a thing could happen on a professional movie set.
Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies fielded questions from reporters.
When asked if there were other ammunition in the gun fired by Baldwin, Sheriff Mendoza mentioned that there was a suspected live round in the gun, but it cannot be confirmed until further notice from the crime lab.
“Rust” movie set, where tragedy struck!
Sheriff Mendoza added that there were “three firearms located on the set in close proximity to the incident.” In fact, 16 people were in the vicinity where the incident took place.
One of those was the gun Baldwin had in his possession, which will be sent to the crime lab, and there were two revolvers. One of the revolvers was a plastic non-functioning prop.
“Any time a firearm is used, safety is paramount,” Sheriff Mendoza added.
Baldwin fired live round
When asked if there was any tension on set or truth to rumors that crew members on the set were out partying the night before the incident, Sheriff Mendoza noted that he is aware of
“rumors” of crew members partying and a search warrant has been issued to track down footage from the day of the incident.
He noted that there is NO actual footage of the particular incident involving Hutchins, Souza and Baldwin.
As previously mentioned, Baldwin serves as a producer on the film, so he has responsibility for the cast and crew members on set.
Mendoza noted that there was “some complacency on this set.”
Right now there could be possible charges, but it was too early to comment on who those charges will be (if any) at this point.
The District Attorney added it is a “complex case” and “lots of legal research, analysis and review,” will be needed to make any conclusive statements or decisions.
