Alec Baldwin may still face charges for accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October, sheriffs revealed on Tuesday morning after releasing a trove of documents and videos from their investigation into the on-set accident.
Baldwin, 64, was rehearsing a scene for the movie Rust on October 21, 2021, when he pulled his gun from his costume. It fired and shot Hutchins, 42, in the armpit, fatally wounding her.
The gun fired a live round which had been loaded into what Baldwin thought was an empty gun.
So far, no one has been criminally charged over the accident but Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza suggested on Tuesday morning that charges may still be brought.
Appearing on Good Morning America on Tuesday, Sheriff Mendoza said said that Baldwin is not in the clear because he was who was handling the weapon.
‘He was the one that handled the weapon that fired the round that led to the fatality.
‘We’re going to work with the DA’s office to determine if there is criminal neglect or criminal charges. We kind of know who didn’t do their jobs here. That was one of the key questions,’ he said.
Mendoza added that police are still waiting for forensics and ballistics reports into the shooting that happened more than six months ago.
‘The key component is the analysis on the firearm and the FBI report. Once that’s all corrected, [the DA] will make the determination of who’s responsible, if anyone.’
s
Alec and Hilaria Baldwin outside their New York City home on Tuesday as the Santa Fe County Sheriff said his investigation remained ongoing and that Baldwin, among others, could still face charges
Appearing on Good Morning America on Tuesday, Sheriff Mendoza said said that Baldwin is not in the clear because he was who was handling the weapon
TRANSCRIPT OF BALDWIN’S CALLS INSIDE POLICE STATION AFTER HALYNA HUTCHINS SHOOTING
Alec Baldwin in the sheriff’s office on October 21
Call #1 with Hilaria
Can you hear me? Can you hear me?
Hey
I’m at the police station. The sheriffs are about to come and interview me. How is everyone at home? How are the kids?
The kids are great. The kids are great.
Hold on a second please. Did you tell Carmen what’s going on?
No I didn’t.
OK. Are you convinced you don’t want to come tomorrow?
I mean I don’t think it’s a good idea. Look, look call me after you talk with the sheriffs but like, I don’t think it’s a great idea. I think, I think this is… you know…
Just to be clear, just to be clear they’re going to make me stay here tomorrow anyway to talk to insurance investigators. This is really…I’ll talk to you more but this is…
I’m so sorry you must have such like, you must be so traumatized
(Baldwin then takes her off speakerphone)
No what I am is, someone who – I don’t want to do this film anymore. I don’t. I don’t want to be a public person. You know, I’m the one holding the gun in my hand that everybody is supposed to have taken care of. They always hand me a cold gun.
Where are you now? Michelle who? And where are you? I’ll call you back when I’m done OK.
Call #2 with an unknown woman, thought to be a nanny or assistant
Hi Alec
Hey. Where are the kids?
They’re sleeping.
The boys are sleeping?
Carmen is awake.
Did she tell you what’s going on?
Yeah
I’m trying to convince her to come. Right? We should come. And just spend the time here. They’re going to do what they gotta do, deal with what they gotta deal with, and I’ll go work and we’ll go enjoy ourselves. It’s all paid for. And they’re not going to give us the money back.
And we should be staying away from the vultures here.
Are they outside?
No but I imagine they will be.
I think it’s a great idea. You should come for that reason also.
All right, I’ll call Carmen on her iPad, OK?
OK yeah she’s on charge, she left her phone. I’m just very sorry Alec.
You have no idea. You have no idea. How unbelievable this is and how strange this is. I’ll explain later.
I’m so sorry you’re in this position I hope everyone’s OK, I hope you’re OK.
(sighs) I’ll call you back. Thank you.
He added that ‘no one’ had yet confessed to bringing the live rounds on set.
Hutchins is pictured before her death in October 2021. The Ukrainian-born cinematographer was a married mother-of-one
Armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the weapons, has said repeatedly through lawyers that she is not at fault.
‘There was at least one live round on the set that was fired from the weapon. These are two separate investigations.
‘There was complacency, disorganization, they were not adhering to proper safety protocols and industry standards to be honest.
‘There was a degree of neglect – whether that neglect reaches a criminal standard that will be up to the district attorney to determine,’ Sheriff Mendoza added.
His remarks come as more footage of Baldwin on the day of the shooting has emerged.
In one video, he appears in the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office before being interviewed, seemingly on the phone to his wife Hilaria.
The actor can be heard asking her to fly from their home in New York out to New Mexico to be with him.
‘Can you hear me? Can you hear me? I’m at the police station. How is everyone at home?
‘How are the kids?
‘The kids are great,’ she replies.
He asked her if she had told their daughter Carmen ‘what was going on.’
Baldwin in New York City on Tuesday. He has said in the past that the sheriff’s department explicitly told him not to speak to the media about the tragedy
‘Are you convinced you don’t want to come tomorrow?’
She replied: ‘I don’t think it’s a good idea. Call me after you talk with the sheriff but I don’t think it’s a great idea.
He fired back: ‘Just to be clear. They’re going to make me stay here anyway.’
Then, bringing the phone to his ear, he said: ‘I don’t want to do this film anymore, I don’t. I don’t want to be a public person. I’m the one holding the gun in my hand that everyone was supposed to have taken care of.
‘They always hand me a cold gun.’
He then seems to quiz his wife on her whereabouts, asking: ‘Where are you now? Michelle who? And where are you? I’ll call you back when I’m done, OK?’
Baldwin was somewhat calm but confused throughout the interview, telling the two female sheriff deputies that he’d ‘never heard of anything like this’. At one stage, he drew a diagram of where he had been standing in relation to where Halyna was
The clip, filmed by the production’s cameras, shows Baldwin in full costume sitting in a church pew, drawing his prop pistol from his waistcoat jacket.
Baldwin goes to draw his gun in the rehearsal of the movie scene on October 21 last year
Data files released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office included a video of investigators debriefing Baldwin within hours of the fatal shooting, talking with him inside a compact office
Alec Baldwin’s hands were photographed at the scene before he was questioned
In these two photos, Alec Baldwin is shown on the set of the movie holding his hands out after the accident
Next, the actor FaceTimes someone who seems to work for his family.
His first question is ‘where are the kids?’ The woman on the other end of the call told him they were sleeping. He then relayed the conversation he had with Hilaria.
‘I’m trying to convince her to come. I think we should come and spend the time here. I’ll go to work and we’ll enjoy ourselves. It’s all paid for. They’re not giving us the money back.’
The woman replies: ‘And stay away from the vultures here.’
He then said he planned to phone the couple’s daughter Carmen on her iPad.
‘You have no idea how unbelievable this is and how strange this is,’ he adds.
Two sheriff’s investigators then entered the room and began a 30 minute interview with him, where he told how he had always been handed a ‘cold’ weapon by the crew.
The sheriff’s office also released dozens of text messages and emails to and from Dave Halls, the assistant director of the movie, on Monday.
Assistant Director Dave Halls gives a DNA sample on October 21 after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins
Assistant Director Dave Halls gives fingerprints on October 21 after the fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins
Three days after the shooting, Dave Halls received these texts warning him that Baldwin and the producers were trying to scapegoat him for the accident
Those messages show how his friends and confidantes warned him that Baldwin’s ‘PR machine’ was ‘in overdrive’ trying to blame him for the tragedy.
One message, written to Halls by a friend named Julie Burris, said: ‘It looks as though everyone is going for their 15 minutes of fame and AB PR team is in overdrive trying to shift the blame away from himself on a worker bee who doesn’t have the money or the power to refute any of it.
‘I think you should thoroughly discuss this aspect with your attorney because the most important thing right now is to make sure there aren’t any criminal charges brought against you – AND what the sheriff’s office affadavit [sic] actually says.
‘And then after the fact assess what person (s) and/or news outlets you can sue for libel/slander/defamation.’
The first part of her message referred to claims of film industry insiders and people who previously worked with Halls that he flouted safety violations on other movie sets.
In other interviews, armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told cops she is who ‘loads the guns and hands them to the actors’
In another message that day, Burris told Halls: ‘All of this says to me, in my opinion, is that the people with money and power are using you as a scapegoat knowing you can’t afford to fight the press of legal bills and that they don’t care about you at all.
‘Notice I don’t see much of AB in the press and haven’t heard about any of the producing team. Not one thing.’
Halls is filmed giving investigators a swab of his DNA and his fingerprints in one of the interviews.
Of all of the people involved in the shooting, he has said the least in the six months since it happened.
Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old armorer, has repeatedly issued statements protesting her innocence. She said she was overworked on set.
In bodycam footage that emerged yesterday, she is seen telling police that she is worried her career is over as a result of the accident.
In her own police interview, she told the investigators: ‘I check the guns and I load the guns and I hand the guns to the actor.’
‘We went to set, we had the guns on set. I dummied the guns up with the dummy rounds. Nothing happened and then we came back from lunch and…’
At one point, Hutchins’ top layer of clothing was taken off to help paramedics who were working to save her
Hutchins was also filmed being wheeled out of the church on a trolley while being given oxygen, before being put into a med-e-vac helicopter and airlifted away
Discarded medical materials inside the church after the fatal shooting
Crime scene photos show bloody gauze at the scene that was used by paramedics before Hutchins was taken away
Bloody tissues and a script with a dirty foot print on it inside the church
***
Read more at DailyMail.co.uk