The latest search warrant released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office has revealed that a fourth person handled the firearm that was fatally discharged by actor Alec Baldwin.
Fox News reports that Sarah Zachry, property master on the set of the movie Rust, has been interviewed by police about circumstances leading up to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.
“She’s another individual who is being interviewed who had contact with the firearm, it seems like,” a spokesperson for the sheriff’s department told the network on Thursday.
According to the search warrant, guns were secured in a safe in the prop truck and Ms Zachry removed them from there – only a limited number of people knew the combination to the safe.
Armourer Hannah Gutierrez and assistant director Dave Halls also handled the firearm before it was handed to Mr Baldwin.
The gun was not intended to be “hot” – loaded with live ammunition – and when Mr Baldwin discharged the weapon the shot killed Ms Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.
Ms Zachry had not previously been mentioned by the sheriff’s department.
The third search warrant issued by the county magistrate court to search the prop truck details the chain of custody of the firearm.
When the crew broke for lunch on the say of the incident, Ms Gutierrez said the guns were secured in a safe inside the prop truck. Ammunition was left unsecured on a cart on set and more was inside the prop truck.
After lunch, Ms Zachry took the firearms from the safe and handed them to Ms Gutierrez.
As the armourer, Ms Gutierrez handed the gun to Mr Baldwin a couple of times during filming. She also handed it to Mr Halls. She maintains that no live ammo is ever kept on set.
Mr Halls advised police that when Ms Gutierrez handed him the gun he remembered seeing three rounds but did not check each one.
The warrant states that in an earlier search on 22 October it appears live bullets were collected from the scene, and due to Ms Gutierrez’s statement regarding ammunition being stored in the prop truck, the new warrant allows for a search of that vehicle.
