Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' gun left unattended for 2 hours before Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot - New York Post

The gun that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of “Rust” was left unattended for two hours before the fatal shooting, according to a new report.

Lawyers for the western film’s armorer said the .45 Long Colt, which was not supposed to contain live rounds, could have thus been tampered with before it was handed to actor Alec Baldwin Oct. 21, the New York Times said.

Jason Bowles, an attorney for 24-year-old movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, told the outlet the weapon was one of three on an armorer’s tray that she handed to assistant director David Halls, who then gave it Baldwin.

Robert Gorence, another attorney for Gutierrez-Reed, told the outlet that she loaded the guns with dummy rounds for an afternoon filming session, placed socks over them to prevent passersby from picking them up, and went off to lunch.

“Was there a duty to safeguard them 24/7?” Gorence said. “The answer is no, because there were no live rounds.”

An attorney for Rust armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said she loaded the guns with dummy rounds, placed socks over them, handed them to the AD and then went out to lunch.

Reports state that Rust AD David Halls took the gun from the prop cart handed it to Alec Baldwin and said it was safe to use.

Dave halls/Twitter

The account contradicts a Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office affidavit that said Reed told investigators the gun had been locked in a safe during a lunch break prior to the fatal shooting during a rehearsal.

But in an earlier interview, the lawyers had also said that they thought the weapon may have been sabotaged by someone else.

“Somebody put that live round or live rounds in that box,” Bowles said on “Good Morning America.” “When you do that you can only have bad intentions because you’re going to confuse the rounds if you’re the armorer, and they appear very similar.”

The gun was left unattended for two hours before the fatal shooting.

“The dummy rounds looked like a regular live round,” Bowles said.

Hutchins, 42, was shot in the torso by Baldwin, who was rehearsing a scene where he pointed the gun at the camera — thinking the gun was loaded with “dummies.”

Cinematographer Halayna Hutchins was fatally shot in the torso by Alec Baldwin.

Swen Studios via Reuters

Baldwin was rehearsing a scene where he pointed a gun at the camera, believing it was loaded with blanks.

Instagram

The incident also wounded director Joel Souza and prompted an investigation by local authorities, who have not filed criminal charges in the case.

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Alec Baldwin's 'Rust' gun left unattended for 2 hours before Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot - New York Post
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