'Rust' Assistant Director Said He Didn't Fully Check Gun Before Shooting

Local 600 International Cinematographers Guild Hosts Candlelight Vigil Honoring Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins

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The assistant director on Rust told police investigators that he did not fully check the revolver before handing it to Alec BaldwinDavid Halls told Baldwin the gun was "cold," which meant it should have been unloaded.

Baldwin accidentally fired the gun while rehearsing a scene, fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her.

Halls told Detective Alexandria Hancock that he didn't check all the rounds in the gun.

"David advised when [armorer Hannah Reed-Gutierrez] showed him the firearm before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds. He advised he should have checked all of them but didn't, and couldn't recall if she spun the drum," Hancock wrote in an affidavit.

Reed-Gutierrez told detectives that "she checked the 'dummies' and ensured they were no 'hot' rounds." She said the firearms were secured in a van but added that "ammo was left on a cart on the set, not secured."

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told reporters on Wednesday (October 27) that investigators recovered over 500 rounds of ammunition, including dummy rounds, blanks, and live rounds.

Halls has a history of gun safety complaints. In 2019, he was fired from the production of Freedom's Path after a gun accidentally discharged and injured a member of the crew.


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