‘Am I being charged’: Video of Alec Baldwin interview released in ‘Rust’ shooting investigation
ByNatalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
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'Rust' shooting: What you need to know Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza was injured in the shooting. (NCD)
ByNatalie Dreier, Cox Media Group National Content Desk
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has released videos of its investigation into the shooting on the set of the film “Rust,” which left one crew member dead and a second wounded.
One of the videos released showed law enforcement officials interviewing actor and producer Alec Baldwin, who fired the prop gun killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.
The video shows Baldwin making phone calls as he waits for a meeting with investigators.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said that the investigation is still open and that he is waiting for the results from the FBI on ballistics and forensic evidence. He is also waiting for fingerprint and DNA results, CNN reported.
Mendoza said his office has also released images of ammunition from the movie set, as well as other reports including screenshots of emails and text messages that show that there were questions about safety by members of the “Rust” crew, USA Today reported.
A conversation between Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin’s assistant shows that Gutierrez-Reed asked if the actor was “feeling OK” about a scene where Baldwin would be holding a gun.
“Just worried he never tried shooting with the holster at all,” Gutierrez-Reed wrote.
“He has not relayed anything to me on this front,” the assistant replied.
Lane Luper, a camera assistant on the film, quit and wrote to Hutchins and unit production manager Row Walters that safety issues were a challenge, including the enforcement of COVID-19 enforcement, USA Today reported.
“The obstacles that we overcome every day on a western should be that of logistics and that alone,” Luper wrote to the pair. “Unfortunately the challenge that I face each day in this picture is safety.”
Hutchins’ family filed a lawsuit against “Rust” producers, including Baldwin, for wrongful death, alleging that producers “committed major breaches of industry protocols” that “led to the senseless and tragic death of Halyna Hutchins.”
Baldwin told ABC News in December that he had cocked the gun, “but did not pull the trigger.” He said he felt sadness but not guilt over the incident. He also said he did not know a live round was loaded into the gun.
Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, said in a statement that the release of the videos by the sheriff’s department corroborates what his client said after the shooting happened, CNN reported.
The production company overseeing the film, Rust Movie Productions LLC, was fined $137,000 last week by the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for failures violating on-set safety protocols, The Associated Press reported.
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Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office responds to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Authorities say a cinematographer has been killed and a director injured Thursday after they were shot by a prop firearm on the "Rust" movie set. (Luis Sanchez-Saturno//Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office responds to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Authorities say a cinematographer has been killed and a director injured Thursday after they were shot by a prop firearm on the "Rust" movie set. (Luis Sanchez-Saturno/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say This aerial video image provided by KOAT 7 News shows the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office responding to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe, N.M., on Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Authorities say a cinematographer has been killed and a director injured Thursday after they were shot by a prop firearm on the "Rust" movie set. (KOAT 7 News via AP)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say An exterior view shows a lighted 'emergency' sign near the emergency entrance to Christus St. Vincent Medical Center, where "Rust" director Joel Souza was transported, on October 21, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Souza was injured and director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed on set while filming the movie "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday. The film's star and producer, Alec Baldwin, discharged a prop firearm that hit Hutchins and Souza, authorities said. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say An exterior view shows the entrance to Christus St. Vincent Medical Center, where "Rust" director Joel Souza was transported, on October 21, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Souza was injured and director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed on set while filming the movie "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday. The film's star and producer, Alec Baldwin, discharged a prop firearm that hit Hutchins and Souza, authorities said. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say An exterior view shows a sign directing patients to the emergency entrance to Christus St. Vincent Medical Center, where "Rust" director Joel Souza was transported, on October 21, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Souza was injured and director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed on set while filming the movie "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday. The film's star and producer, Alec Baldwin, discharged a prop firearm that hit Hutchins and Souza, authorities said. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say An exterior view shows a sign directing patients to the emergency entrance to Christus St. Vincent Medical Center, where "Rust" director Joel Souza was transported, on October 21, 2021, in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Souza was injured and director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed on set while filming the movie "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday. The film's star and producer, Alec Baldwin, discharged a prop firearm that hit Hutchins and Souza, authorities said. (Sam Wasson/Getty Images)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say Authorities identified the slain victim as Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer, The Associated Press reported. She is shown here in a 2019 file photo. (Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say The film’s director, 48-year-old Joel Souza, was taken to a nearby hospital and treated for injuries, officials said. He is shown here in a 2019 file photo. (Jim Spellman/Getty Images)
Photos: Alec Baldwin fired 'prop gun' that killed 'Rust' cinematographer, officials say In this Sept. 21, 2015, file photo, actor Alec Baldwin attends a news conference at United Nations headquarters. A prop firearm discharged by Baldwin, who is starring and producing a Western movie, killed his director of photography and injured the director Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021, at the movie set outside Santa Fe, N.M., the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
