New video evidence was released by the investigators where Alec Baldwin can be seen shortly after the fatal shooting incident on the set of the film Rust.
A shooting episode at the Bonanza Creek Ranch located in New Mexico back in October 2021 resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding of director Joel Souza.
Alec Baldwin was rehearsing with the gun in his hands at the time of the fatal incident.
The video is of the first interview conducted by the investigators soon after the incident where Baldwin can be seen asking the deputy whether he would be charged for anything or not. The deputy in charge responds with a No, whereas the deputy also explains that this is an interview before the formal questioning.
Baldwin appears to be distressed while the deputy asks him to explain the procedure of weapon handling on the sets.
“Do you think someone would do this deliberately?” the interviewer can be seen asking.
“I can’t imagine who would,” Baldwin responded quickly.
The officials who released the video stated that there is much footage that can be released later by the Santa Fe County sheriff’s office. There is a lot of evidence in the form of photos, videos, and reports that can assist the investigation which is still ongoing.
“Various components of the investigation remain outstanding including, FBI firearm and ballistic forensics along with DNA and latent fingerprint analysis, Office of the New Mexico Medical Examiner findings report, and the analysis of Mr. Alec Baldwin’s phone data extracted by Suffolk County (New York) Sheriff’s investigators,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said.
During the interview, Baldwin told the investigators that he doesn’t even know the last name of the film’s armorer and that she is the one who gave him the gun directly.
He also confessed that it is the job of the armorer to check the gun and he did not check it physically.
“Bang! It went off — the first time,” Baldwin said, the weapon used in the rehearsal. “It was the first time we were shooting that shot, we were rehearsing for that shot.”
The attorney representing Alec Baldwin released a statement saying,
Baldwin’s attorney, Luke Nikas, further stated,
“Additionally, the interviews and affidavits disclosed today continue to corroborate Mr. Baldwin’s description of the events — including an affidavit from the Detective stating that the cameraman, who was standing next to Ms. Hutchins and Mr. Souza at the time of the accident, confirmed that Mr. Baldwin was ‘very careful’ with guns on the set.”
