The weapon held by Alec Baldwin which fatally wounded cinematographer Halyna Hutchins could not have been fired without pulling the trigger while the hammer was cocked, according to a forensics report by the FBI.
Baldwin was holding the firearm during a rehearsal for upcoming western Rust when it was discharged, killing Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. The postmortem investigation into the incident found the manner of death to be an accident.
The FBI’s report, which was handed over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, found the gun in question “could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.”
The report appears to contradict Baldwin’s assertion in December that “the trigger wasn’t pulled,” though an attorney for the actor told CNN the FBI’s findings “are being misconstrued,” and the FBI themselves acknowledged “it may not be possible to recreate or duplicate all of the circumstances which led to the discharge of a firearm without a pull of the trigger.”
Alec Baldwin
“The critical report is the one from the medical examiner, who concluded that this was a tragic accident,” attorney Luke Nikas said. “This is the third time the New Mexico authorities have found that Alec Baldwin had no authority or knowledge of the allegedly unsafe conditions on the set, that he was told by the person in charge of safety on the set that the gun was ‘cold,’ and believed the gun was safe.”
An attorney speaking on behalf of the film’s armorer and props assistant, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, said “Baldwin had to have pulled the trigger to fire the revolver” and that their 24-year-old client was being used as a “scapegoat.”
Back in April, Rust Movie Productions, LLC was fined just under $140,000 in relation to the incident, and was accused of demonstrating “plain indifference to employee safety” by the New Mexico Environment Department.
