David Halls, the first assistant director of the film ‘Rust’ has admitted to investigators that he did not check the weapon for live rounds before handing it over to film star Alec Baldwin.
This comes after Baldwin accidental killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza after firing the weapon while rehearsing last week.
The incident happened at Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Hutchins was declared dead at the hospital upon arrival after being airlifted from the scene.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer for the film, says she checked the ammunition prior to Baldwin being given the gun and “ensured they were not ‘hot’ rounds.” But Halls, who was supposed to check her work, admitted that he didn’t check all her work.
In an affidavit presented to investigators on Wednesday Halls said he should have checked the gun first.
“David advised when Hannah showed him the firearm before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three round,” reads the affidavit. “He advised he should have checked all of them, but didn’t, and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum.”
The investigators were also told that the live ammunition was not used on the set.
However, Sheriff Adam Mendoza told the press on Wednesday that multiple live rounds were possibly recovered from the scene. Investigators have now obtained a warrant in order to conduct a search of the prop truck.
