Alec Baldwin Disputes Claims He Isn't Cooperating With 'Rust' Shooting Investigation
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Actor Alec Baldwin is disputing allegations that he is not fully cooperating with the investigation into the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on a movie set in New Mexico last year.
On Saturday, Baldwin took to Instagram to dispute reports that he has not turned his cell phone over to Santa Fe County Sheriff's investigators.
Last month, the sheriff's office obtained a warrant to search Baldwin's phone. Sheriff's investigators still have not received it.
"Any suggestion that I am not complying with requests or orders or demands or search warrants about my phone, that's bull----, that's a lie," Baldwin said in an Instagram video. "This is a process where one state makes a request of another state. Someone from another state can't come to you and say, 'Give my your phone, give me this.' They can't do that. They've got to go through the state you live in. That is a process that takes time. They have to specify exactly what they want. They can't just go through your phone, you know, of your photos or your love letters to your wife or what have you. I really don't know. But of course, we are 1,000% going to comply with all that."
On the afternoon of Oct. 21, on the set of the Western "Rust," just outside Santa Fe, a single live round from a Pietta Colt .45 revolver fired by Baldwin struck and killed the 42-year-old Hutchins and wounded the film's director, 48-year-old Joel Souza.
The 63-year-old Baldwin was inside a church building, sitting on a wooden pew, rehearsing unholstering his prop gun and pointing it at the camera when he fired it, according to a previous search warrant filed by Santa Fe County Sheriff's investigators. Hutchins was hit in the chest and Souza in the shoulder.
The warrant to search Baldwin's phone revealed that, prior to the shooting, Baldwin and the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had emailed back and forth about the type of gun that Baldwin would use in the scene. According to the affidavit, during his interview with detectives on the day of Hutchins' killing, Baldwin disclosed that he exchanged emails with Gutierrez-Reed regarding the type of gun he would use for the scene. He also said he had requested a bigger gun.
"Alec described the gun to be a 'period' Colt," the affidavit reads. "He said there were emails transferred back and forth between Hannah and him where she showed him different styles of guns. He said he requested a bigger gun, and she also showed him different styles of knives for the production. Alec was shown a Colt with a brown handle, and a cherry handle, and he ultimately chose the one with the brown handle."
The firearm, which authorities confirmed was loaded with a live round, was "handled and/or inspected" by Reed, and assistant director Dave Halls, prior to it being fired by Baldwin.
The gun was only supposed to be loaded with dummy rounds. According to a previous search warrant filed by sheriff's investigators, Halls had handed Baldwin the prop gun and yelled that it was a "cold gun," meaning it was not loaded with live ammunition.
A total of about 500 rounds of ammunition were seized by investigators from the "Rust" movie set following the shooting. They included blanks, dummy rounds and what investigators suspect are other live rounds.