World enews: Alec Baldwin shooting: Rust assistant director tells police he didn’t check all rounds before giving gun to actor

The assistant director on the movie Rust has told police that he didn’t check all the rounds in the gun barrel to ensure they were all fake bullets before handing the firearm to actor Alec Baldwin.

Assistant Director Davis Halls told police that when Rust armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed “showed him” the gun later used by Mr Baldwin “before continuing rehearsal, he could only remember seeing three rounds,” an affidavit filed on Wednesday in Santa Fe County Magistrate Court, and obtained by Insider, shows.

Mr Halls “advised he should have checked all of them, but didn’t and couldn’t recall” if Ms Gutierrez-Reed “spun the drum” the legal document stated.

The affidavit was part of a search warrant for the film set in New Mexico.

When the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office asked Mr Halls about safety procedures regarding guns, he said: “I check the barrel for obstructions, most of the time there’s no live fire.”

He added that Ms Gutierrez-Reed “opens the hatch and spins the drum, and I say ‘cold gun’ on set”.

Mr Baldwin, 63, was rehearsing a scene when he fired the prop gun, fatally shooting cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and injuring director Joel Souza, 48.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said during a press conference on Wednesday that the prop gun was a .45 Long Colt that had a live bullet in the drum.

Police haven’t ruled out any charges. Authorities have said that a “lead projectile” was removed from the shoulder of Mr Souza. Sheriff Mendoza said it was “apparently the same round” that hit both Ms Hutchins and Mr Souza.

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