Alec Baldwin on the shooting at Halina Hutchins: "I would have committed suicide if it was my fault"

In a first interview aired tonight in the United States, Alec Baldwin denied responsibility for the deadly shooting of filmmaker Halina Hutchins on the Western set they filmed together.

For the first time he publicly described the chain of events that led to the shooting that killed the photographer

Reuters

03/12/2021

Friday, 03 December 2021, 09:33 Updated: 09:37

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In the video: The set of photos in New Mexico (Photo: Reuters)

Alec Baldwin was interviewed tonight (Thursday-Friday) and denied responsibility for the deadly shooting of filmmaker Halina Hutchins on the set of his Western movie, "Rust." Baldwin said he would have committed suicide if he had believed it was his fault. In an excited TV interview on ABC's "20/20" program, the actor said that he did not pull the trigger with the gun he was holding during rehearsal, and that he does not think he will be prosecuted in the affair.

"I feel someone is responsible for what happened, but I know it's not me. I might have committed suicide if I thought I was responsible, and I do not say it lightly," Baldwin told interviewer George Stephanopoulos, in his first public statement about the shooting. On October 21 on the set of the film, near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Hutchins was quickly killed and director Joel Sousa was injured.

The incident, including the question of how live ammunition made its way to the set, is still under investigation by New Mexico authorities.

No criminal indictments have been filed.

Baldwin was told the gun was "safe" by crew members in charge of the weapons test.

"I was told by stakeholders ... that it was very unlikely they would charge me with anything criminal," Baldwin said.

The actor stressed that "he would never aim a gun at anyone and pull the trigger."

More on Walla!

Alec Baldwin in the first interview since the fatal accident: "I did not pull the trigger"

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Watch the full interview

In the first public description he provided of what happened, Baldwin said the Colt pistol fired unexpectedly when he swung it while training at shooting angles with the Hutchins. "In this scene I'm going to swing the gun. I said, 'Do you want to see it?', She said 'Yes.' So I take the gun and I start swinging the gun. I'm not going to pull the trigger. I said, 'You saw it. ? ' She said, 'Well, just tilt it down a little bit.' And I waved the gun and said, 'Can you see it? Can you see it?' And I released the hammer of the gun and the gun fired. "

Baldwin said he initially thought Hutchins had fainted, and only hours later was he told she was dead. He said he "can not imagine" that he would ever make a movie again that would include guns.

The actor, best known for the comedy series "Rock 30," was widely criticized for not thoroughly testing the gun himself, but he insisted in an interview that it was not the actor's job.

"When the person who was given the responsibility for this job handed me the weapon, I trusted him ... In the 40 years I was in this business until that day, I never had a problem," he said.

Two crew members have filed civil lawsuits accusing Baldwin, the producers and others of negligence and loose safety protocols on the set.

But Baldwin said he "did not notice any safety or security issues while I was there."

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