[BREAKING] Alec Baldwin's Potential Criminal Charges Overshadowed By New Findings; 'Rust' Armorer Lied On Statement?
The investigation into Alec Baldwin's shooting incident revealed that "Rust" armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, lied in her statement.
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza recently gave an update regarding the shooting incident's inquiry, saying that the armorer provided a false statement regarding the live rounds on the set. In the search warrant, the young armorer noted how she believed there should have been no live ammunition during the filming at all.
However, Sheriff Mendoza revealed to the "Today" show (via Deadline) that Gutierrez Reed's statement is not accurate based on the evidence they have collected so far. He said that, in fact, the projectile that struck and killed Halyna Hutchins was a live round one.
Thus, the Sheriff firmly claimed that the armorer's statement was not accurate as far as he's concerned.
During Wednesday's conference, Sheriff Mendoza revealed that they found 500 rounds of ammunition on the set. The evidence includes a mix of blanks, dummy, and live rounds.
What "Rust" Armorer Claims
The young armorer insisted she check Baldwin's weapon before the crew took a break for lunch in the search warrant. She reportedly ensured that the gun - which eventually killed the cinematographer and injured an assistant director - only had dummy rounds.
When the crew took their lunch, Gutierrez Reed locked the gun and other weapons in a safe of a prop truck. However, she admitted that ammunition was left out on a cart. There was also ammo inside the prop truck.
After their lunch break, crew member Sarah Zachary got the firearms out and handed them to her. The armorer reportedly told Zachary that only a few members had access to the safe. She then passed them to Baldwin and Halls.
Following the new development, Hollywood's weapons armorer Bryan W. Carpenter told Fox News more information about the gun in question.
Per Carpenter, period guns - like the one Baldwin used - do not need modifications to have them fire a blank. He explained that, since it is mechanically operated, a user should do something every time to make the cylinder rotate.
"In the case of Alec Baldwin's gun that he used on this set... you would have to physically cock the hammer back with your thumb each time you wanted it to fire and then pull the trigger. Then cock the hammer back and then pull the trigger each time. It's done manually." he went on.
