Alec Baldwin claims he 'didn't pull the trigger' in fatal 'Rust' movie set shooting

In his first interview after the 'Rust' shooting tragedy, Alec Baldwin claimed that he did not pull the trigger on the gun that accidentally killed the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie in October. It is to mention that the tragic incident led to the death of Hutchins and injury of director Joel Souza. According to the promo that was released in an interview airing on Thursday, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked the actor to confirm that it was not in the script for the trigger to be pulled. On this, the actor replied that “the trigger was not pulled”. 

Baldwin has said, “Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger.” When Stephanopoulos confirms, “So you never pulled the trigger?”, the actor answered, “No, no, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never.”

Hutchins was killed and Souza was injured on 21 October when the gun that Baldwin was holding went off during the rehearsals for the western on a ranch outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The ‘Rust’ prop gun tragedy is a rare filming fatality that shocked the entire Hollywood. As per the AP report, the authorities have said that the 63-year-old actor was told that the gun was safe to handle but are still probing the incident. 

While the investigators are attempting to determine how the live round ended up in the weapon, ABC released a clip on Wednesday showing Bladwin breaking down in tears while describing Hutchins. When the actor was asked about how the live round ended up on the ‘Rust’ film set, Baldwin told the media outlet, “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.” 

Investigators confirmed ‘some complacency’ in handling weapons

Meanwhile, the investigators have confirmed that there was “some complacency” in how the weapons were handled on the set where the tragic incident took place in October. They have also informed that it is too soon to determine if charges will be filed in relation to the tragedy. Meanwhile, independent civil lawsuits have also been filed concerning liability in the fatal shooting. The Santa Fe County sheriff’s office is investigating the incident. 

Media reports have stated that Baldwin thought the gun was empty and the weapon was handed over to him by assistant director Dave Halls who allegedly called it a “cold gun” while handing it over. It was the head armourer on ‘Rust’ film set, Hannah Gutierrez Reed who handled the weapons including the gun that Hall gave to Baldwin. The actor also told the media outlet that he has “no idea” how the live rounds ended up in the gun.

(IMAGE: AP)