The Santa Fe County Sheriff and district attorney are giving an update on the investigation of the fatal shooting on the set of “Rust” last week.
Sheriff Adan Mendoza told reporters that a live round was recovered from the shoulder of director Joel Souza. That round also caused the death of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer, Mendoza said.
Other live rounds may also have been on the set, he said, and investigators are still working to determine how those rounds made it to the set.
“We’re going to determine how those got there, why they were there, because they shouldn’t have been there,” Mendoza said.
Mary Carmack-Altwies, the local district attorney, said it is too soon to say whether any charges will be filed.
“We can’t say it was negligence by whom, how many people were involved,” Carmack-Altwies said. “It is a very complex case.”
Mendoza noted that film sets are typically safe, but said that in this case, “I think there was some complacency on set.”
The shooting was not captured on video, Mendoza said.
Hutchins was killed last Thursday when she was shot during rehearsal of a scene at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location near Santa Fe. Alec Baldwin, the star of the film and also a producer, was holding the gun at the time, and was demonstrating how he would point it toward the camera when it went off.
Dave Halls, the assistant director, had handed the gun to Baldwin and said it was “cold,” meaning it that did not have any live rounds, according to a search warrant affidavit filed on Friday. Halls had retrieved the gun from a cart, where it had been placed by the armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed.
Souza was released from the hospital later that day. Souza told investigators that “there should never be live rounds whatsoever near or around the scene,” according to an affidavit.
Investigators retrieved spent shell casings, revolvers, clothing and swabs with blood on them from the scene on Friday, according to a search warrant return filed on Monday.
IATSE Local 480, the union that represents most film workers in New Mexico, issued a statement on Tuesday saying it was disturbed by reports that non-union workers had been hired after the camera crew walked off the set. The crew reportedly complained of poor working conditions.