Watch: Video of Alec Baldwin from 'Rust' shows him with a gun minutes before firing incident
Alec Baldwin
Alec Baldwin allegedly felt 'no recoil' when he accidentally fired a .45-caliber Old West revolver which inadvertently took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the sets of 'Rust'.
A bodycam video of Baldwin speaking to Santa Fe investigators about the fatal incident has now been made public where Baldwin recounts the moments that lead to the firing.
"When I shot the gun, away from the cameraman, I never aim the gun at the camera, I turned and I went like this," Baldwin can be heard telling investigators in the video, making a gun with his fingers and panning his arm across a cluttered table in an interview room at the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. "And she was there. And the gun went off. And she just went right on the ground."
Investigators are now looking into the on-set shooting and released a trove of files on Monday in connection with the incident that left the cinematographer dead and director Joel Souza injured.
The video reportedly shows Baldwin asking about Hutchin's condition moments later.
The files include interviews with key witnesses at the scene and later in the sheriff’s office, including Baldwin, first assistant director David Halls, armourer Hanna Gutierrez Reed, prop master Sarah Zachry as well as incident reports, crime scene photos and other evidence.
Baldwin said "Hannah handed me the gun," referencing the armourer and contradicting contemporaneous police reports that stated Halls had handed Baldwin the gun and told him it was "cold" or safe, before the incident.
Halls separately told investigators about industry-standard safety checks and gun handling guidelines.
"This movie is done," he told deputies. "It’s too scared. The director of photography was killed. The director was injured. Alec Baldwin was involved."
Souza, meanwhile, told the police that the armourer handed Baldwin the gun and described the incident from his perspective during a round of questioning while he was still recovering in the hospital. The director later said he could not recall because he was 'zonked out' on medication.
"A very loud bang, and it felt like somebody kicked me in the shoulder," he said from his hospital bed. "And then I was down on my a--, and then I look over and see the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, with blood coming out of her back…I think it went through her and into me."
Another video shows first responders tending to Hutchins and Souza on the church floor minutes after the incident. She appears conscious for much of the encounter. A rattled Baldwin asks for a cigarette and about the conditions of Hutchins and Souza.
Another bodycam video shows a deputy speaking with Baldwin on speakerphone.
He questions how a live round could have been present on set and asks whether a "defective" dummy round could actually fire. "So there's a chance that it was actually a dummy that was defective?" Baldwin asks on speakerphone. "I've never heard of that."
Baldwin, a producer on the film, has been named in several lawsuits filed in connection with Hutchins` death, including one by her husband, Matthew.
The 64-year-old actor has argued in court papers that an indemnification clause in his contract shields him from personal liability
