Alec Baldwin speaks out about shooting of ‘friend’ Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin has spoken publicly for the first time since the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust.

Ms Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to hospital in New Mexico last Friday after being shot by a prop gun fired by Baldwin on the set of the Western film, but was pronounced dead by medical staff.

An assistant director unwittingly handed Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe to use in the moments before the shooting, which also injured director Joel Souza, according to court documents.

In his first public comments since the freak accident, the 63-year-old actor said Ms Hutchins was a friend of his who he had taken to dinner upon arriving on the film set.

He said: “She was my friend. The day I arrived in Santa Fe and started shooting I took her to dinner with Joel.

“We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened.”

Mr Baldwin, who made the comments to photographers outside his estate in Vermont, added that he was in “constant contact” with Ms Hutchins’ husband and was “very worried” about the family.

He called the shooting a “one in a trillion episode” and said he is “extremely interested” in lobbying to limit the use of firearms on film sets.

The sheriff investigating the case recently revealed that live bullets had been found among 500 rounds of ammunition on the film set.

County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told a press conference there was a “mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what we are suspecting is live rounds”.

He said police have recovered some 600 items of evidence - including three firearms and about 500 rounds of ammunition from the scene.

The County Sheriff said investigators believe they have the firearm which was fired by Mr Baldwin as well as a spent shell casing from the shooting.

He added a “lead projectile” was recovered from the shoulder of Rust’s injured director - Joel Souza - and handed over as evidence.

“We regard this specific spent casing and recovered projectile to be the live round that was fired from the revolver by Mr Baldwin,” Sheriff Mendoza said.

There were 16 people in the vicinity and they have all been interviewed, the sheriff said.

Read More

Ireland Baldwin shares message of support for father Alec

Suspected live bullets found among 500 rounds of ammunition on Rust set, Sheriff says

Halyna Hutchins’ haunting last photo on Rust set before fatal shooting