According to local authorities, criminal charges might still be filed over the shooting accident in which actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza.

During a rehearsal for the film Rust, Baldwin drew his revolver across his body and pointed it at a camera when the gun went off, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza in Santa Fe, according to legal filings.

According to affidavits signed by Souza and camera operator Reid Russell, Baldwin was given an unloaded prop pistol and informed it was unloaded before filming began.

However, the Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies claimed that criminal charges have not been ruled out because the pistol used in the event was a "legit" and "antique-era proper gun after all, and not a fake one.

David Halls, Baldwin's first assistant director, had earlier explained to the cast and crew that the pistol Baldwin was holding was a "cold gun," a word filmmakers use to denote that a prop gun is safe to use and not loaded with live ammo. This is belied by the fact that 'enormous amounts of bullets" had been discovered on the set," the prosecutor said.

This pronouncement comes after revelations that the 63-year-old actor's pistol, which accidently killed Hutchins, had been used hours before by members of his team to shoot at beer cans.

Some crew members on the site had taken prop weapons out that morning to go 'plinking,' a practice in which individuals shoot at beer cans with real ammo to pass the time, according to an insider with knowledge of the set.

It was just hours before Baldwin used one of the weapons and shot both Hutchins and Souza, according to the source, who talked to The Wrap on condition of anonymity.

The weapon that ultimately caused the accident one of three prop guns that the film's rookie armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, had set up outside the set location on a gray cart. The film was shooting in the desert near the city of Santa Fe.

Baldwin has since released a statement expressing his deep regret for what happened.

There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours," Baldwin wrote in a statement posted to Twitter.