Late last year, in an interview with George Stephanopoulos, Alec Baldwin addressed the tragic death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. At the time, Baldwin was adamant that he had not fired the prop gun that killed Hutchins. “Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said.
On Friday, ABC News obtained a copy of the FBI’s forensic report on the shooting. It offers a different version of events — one in which Baldwin did, in fact, pull the trigger. According to the report, the prop firearm could not have been discharged without the gun’s trigger being pulled.
By all accounts, the prop gun was announced as a “cold gun” on the set of Rust immediately before the shooting, indicating that it wasn’t loaded. The New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner ruled that Hutchins’s death was an accident.
“Review of available law enforcement reports showed no compelling demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set,” the office’s report said, according to ABC News.
It’s another unsettling twist in the aftermath of a death that’s prompted many studios and filmmakers to rethink the role of guns in film and television production. Whether the FBI report will have any bearing on the other lawsuits surrounding Rust remains to be seen.
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