He says he ‘couldn’t remember’ checking the gun
Alec Baldwin’s assistant director Dave Halls has admitted to investigators that he didn’t check every barrel of the gun but “should have”.
Following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of Alec Baldwin’s Rust on October 21, assistant director Dave Halls has admitted that he only checked three of the five chambers in the weapon, reports the Mail Online.
This revelation comes after the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s department unsealed the search warrant on Wednesday October 27. The warrant contains details of police interviews, specifically what armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed told them to do.
Halls claims that Gutierrez-Reed, 24, handed him the weapon and ‘spins the drum’ to show him the ammo before declaring it safe.
However, on the Thursday that the incident took place, Halls said he “couldn’t remember” if she spun the weapon but can remember seeing three dummy rounds that are identified by the hole in the side of the cartridge.
A portion of the warrant reads: “David advised when Hannah showed him the firearm before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds.
“He advised he should have checked them all but didn’t and couldn’t recall if she spun the drum.”
The weapon was then handed to Baldwin who fired it in the direction of Hutchins and director Joel Souza. While Souza was discharged from hospital the following day, Hutchins was pronounced dead after being airlifted from the set.
The warrant continues to say: “[Halls] advised he could only remember seeing at least four dummy casings with the hole in the side, and one without the hole.
“He advised this round did not have the “cap” on it and was just the casing. David advised the incident was not a deliberate act.”
The investigation is still ongoing but you can read the latest update here.
Related links:
- Alec Baldwin asked ‘why was I handed a loaded gun?’ after fatal on-set shooting
- Heartless trolls taunt Alec Baldwin with resurfaced ‘wrongful killing’ tweet
- Brandon Lee and Halyna Hutchins aren’t the only ones: on-set accidents have been happening for years
