The soap opera is experienced live across the Atlantic. A new episode occurred in the afternoon on the west coast of the United States. A real "cliffhanger" worthy of the thriller that has become "the Alec Baldwin affair". David Halls, the assistant director of "Rust" who handed the actor the weapon that fired the fatal shot, in this Hollywood drama, finally admitted to investigators that he had not checked all the cartridges loaded in the weapon before the fatal shot of director of photography Halyna Hutchins. The information comes from the affidavit of a detective of the investigation made public this Wednesday by CNN.
Detective Alexandria Hancock described her interrogations with first assistant director David Halls and gunsmith Hannah Reed-Gutierrez involved in what is still considered a set accident. “David indicated that when Hannah showed him the gun before continuing the rehearsal, he only remembered seeing three rounds. He said he should have checked them all but didn't, and couldn't remember if she had spun the drum, ”the affidavit read. "David, however, indicated that the incident was not a deliberate act" in his questioning.
A previous affidavit only indicated that Halls had shouted "cold weapon" (Editor's note, which means that the weapon did not have a blank cartridge or a live cartridge containing gunpowder that could explode), before it was released. hand over to Baldwin.
A new detail of the investigation has also been revealed.
The detectives in charge added a request for a search of the van to the proceedings after questioning several members of the film crew.
The latter told investigators that the weapons used in the filming were stored in a safe inside the van or "accessory truck" to which only a few people had access and whose combination they knew.
"We don't know how these live bullets got there"
Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza said this afternoon that it was indeed a live bullet that killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza. Yet in her statement Detective Hancock claims the gunsmith told investigators: “No real bullet is ever kept on the set. Hannah said on the day of the incident she checked the dummies and made sure there were no "hot" cartridges, "says transcript of interrogations about ammunition used on set. . While the guns were secured inside the van, "the ammunition was left on a cart on the set, unsecured," Reed-Gutierrez also told investigators.The gray two-tier wagon also contained a western-style belt and other accessory ammo.
Reed-Gutierrez told investigators that she handed the gun to Baldwin several times during the day of filming, and that she also handed it to Halls. Reid Russell, a cameraman who was next to Hutchins and Souza, also told investigators everyone seemed to get along well, despite some of the crew walking out the door the day before. He told investigators he was out of the filming area for about five minutes and was not sure the gun was checked while he was away. Souza, who was shot in the shoulder during the incident, told law enforcement that "as far as he knows, no one is checked before and after the shooting of the scenes to check the presence of live ammunition on him ”.
"We don't know how those live ammunition got there," District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told CNN on Wednesday.
"And I think that will probably end up being a kind of pivot as to whether a decision is made on charges" which are no longer excluded including for Alec Baldwin.
“To be continued.
"
