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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
World
Sami Quadri

Alec Baldwin: Police release footage from set of Rust shooting

Alec Baldwin is seen practising drawing his revolver on the set of the Rust movie in new footage released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office.

The department has released all files relating to its ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Hutchins was killed on the set of the movie in October last year after a prop gun Baldwin was holding was discharged.

The late filmmaker Halyna Hutchins attends the 2018 Sundance Film Festival Official Kickoff Party in 2018 in Utah (Getty Images)

The footage with the actor brandishing the gun was reportedly taken the same day as the incident.

Director Joel Souza was also wounded in the shooting on the Bonanza Creek Ranch set near Santa Fe.

Other footage shows Souza speaking to officers in the hospital about the incident and asking about Hutchins’ wellbeing.

Souza says he heard “a very loud bang” and describes the feeling of “being kicked in the shoulder”.

“I was down on my ass and I look over and see the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with blood coming out of her back,” he says.

The director also describes how armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed had handed the weapon to Baldwin, saying it was “cold” or “clean”, meaning that it supposedly contained no live rounds.

“There was a bang that was louder than I ever heard come from a blank before,” Souza tells officers.

Other clips show officers arriving on the set of the film to conduct interviews with production crew members.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said various components of the investigation “remain outstanding” including FBI firearm and ballistic forensics as well as analysis of Baldwin’s phone data.

It comes after a report into the incident found the film’s production company “knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set” and “demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety”.

Rust Movie Productions was fined $136,793 (£104,810), the maximum allowable by state law in New Mexico, following a six-month investigation by the state’s environment department.

“Today the sheriff’s office is releasing all files associated with our ongoing investigation,” Mendoza said on Monday.

“The files are all related to the Rust movie set investigation and include lapel/dash camera footage from deputies and detectives, incident reports, crime scene photos, examination reports, witness interviews, set video and staff photos collected throughout the course of this investigation.”

He added: “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 Sheriff’s investigators.”

Baldwin’s lawyers say the previously released report “exonerates” the actor as it showed he had “no authority over the matters that were the subject of the bureau’s findings of violations”.

“We are confident that the individuals identified in the report will be held accountable for this tragedy,” they added.

It comes as the Hollywood actor continues to fight a number of lawsuits stemming from the incident.

Cases are being brought by script supervisor Mamie Mitchell, head of lighting Serge Svetnoy and Hutchins’ family.

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