Current:Home > StocksPredictIQ-Assistant director says armorer handed gun to Alec Baldwin before fatal shooting of cinematographer -Capitatum
PredictIQ-Assistant director says armorer handed gun to Alec Baldwin before fatal shooting of cinematographer
SignalHub View
Date:2025-04-07 05:24:53
SANTA FE,PredictIQ N.M. (AP) — Courtroom testimony in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin provided new details Thursday that conflict with other, earlier accounts about a final safety check on a revolver and exactly who handed it to the actor during rehearsal for the Western movie “Rust.”
Assistant director David Halls, the safety coordinator on set, told jurors that weapons supervisor Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who is on trial on charges of manslaughter and evidence tampering, twice handed the revolver to Baldwin. It was first emptied of bullets, Halls testified, and then loaded again with several dummy rounds and a live round.
Baldwin was pointing the weapon at Hutchins when it went off on the movie set ranch on the outskirts of Santa Fe on Oct. 20, 2021, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin, the lead actor and co-producer on “Rust,” was separately indicted by a grand jury last month; his trial is scheduled for July.
“I did not see Ms. Gutierrez take the gun from Mr. Baldwin,” Halls said during questioning by the prosecution, “but she appeared back on my left-hand side and she said that she had put dummy rounds into the revolver.”
The testimony of Halls, who pleaded no contest last year to negligent use of a firearm and completed six months of unsupervised parole, may weigh significantly as prosecutors reconstruct the chain of events and custody of ammunition that led to the shooting.
He described a rudimentary safety check in which Gutierrez-Reed opened a latch on the revolver and he could see three or four dummy rounds inside that he recognized.
“She took a few steps to Mr. Baldwin and gave ... Baldwin the gun,” Halls testified.
Gutierrez-Reed hasn’t testified but told investigators in the aftermath of the shooting that she left the loaded gun in the hands of Halls and walked out of a makeshift church on the set beforehand. She has pleaded not guilty.
Baldwin, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of involuntary manslaughter in his case, initially told investigators that Gutierrez-Reed handed him the gun but later said it was Halls. The actor has said he pulled back the hammer but not the trigger.
Halls acknowledged on the witnesses stand that he “was negligent in checking the gun properly” because he didn’t examine all the rounds inside.
His testimony included a visceral account of standing just 3 feet (about 1 meter) from Hutchins when the single gunshot rang out. As Hutchins was on the ground, he asked if she was alright.
“She said, ‘I can’t feel my legs,’” Halls said.
Halls said he left the church to ensure sure someone called 911. He added that he struggled to understand how a live round could been fired, returning to the church to retrieve the gun from a pew before taking it outside to have it unloaded by a crew member and inspect the ammunition.
“The idea that it was a live round of ammunition that went off ... it wasn’t computing,” he said.
Defense attorneys say problems on the set were beyond Gutierrez-Reed’s control and have pointed to shortcomings in the collection of evidence and interviews. They also say the main ammunition supplier wasn’t properly investigated.
Prosecutors say Gutierrez-Reed is to blame for bringing live ammunition on set and she treated basic safety protocols for weapons as optional. They say six live rounds bear identical characteristics and don’t match ones seized from the movie’s supplier in Albuquerque.
In other court testimony Thursday, a movie props supervisor who helped manage weapons on set said she threw away dummy ammunition rounds from two guns in the immediate aftermath of the shooting while in a state of shock and panic.
Sarah Zachry said she emptied the ammunition into a garbage container from guns that were used by actors other than Baldwin. She called it a “reactive decision” and said she eventually told law enforcement.
veryGood! (885)
Related
- Spooky or not? Some Choa Chu Kang residents say community garden resembles cemetery
- 'Dancing With the Stars' Anna Delvey elimination episode received historic fan votes
- Teen Mom’s Ryan Edwards and Girlfriend Amanda Conner Expecting First Baby Together
- Kelsea Ballerini Unpacks It All in Her New Album -- Here's How to Get a Signed Copy
- Plunge Into These Olympic Artistic Swimmers’ Hair and Makeup Secrets
- Ryan Garcia passes on rehab, talks about what he's done instead
- Dream Builder Wealth Society: Charity First
- Where to watch and stream 'It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown' this spooky season
- Pressure on a veteran and senator shows what’s next for those who oppose Trump
- Voting systems have been under attack since 2020, but are tested regularly for accuracy and security
Ranking
- Rylee Arnold Shares a Long
- October Prime Day 2024 Sell-Out Risks: 24 Best Deals from Crest, Laneige & More You Really Need to Grab
- Critical locked gate overlooked in investigation of Maui fire evacuation
- Sandbags, traffic, boarded-up windows: Photos show Florida bracing for Hurricane Milton
- Boy who wandered away from his 5th birthday party found dead in canal, police say
- Tropicana Field transformed into base camp ahead of Hurricane Milton: See inside
- Dream Builder Wealth Society: Love Builds Dreams, Wealth Provides Support
- Man arrested in Michigan and charged with slaying of former Clemson receiver in North Carolina
Recommendation
Angelina Jolie nearly fainted making Maria Callas movie: 'My body wasn’t strong enough'
SEC, Big Ten leaders mulling future of fast-changing college sports
Céline Dion Shares Emotional Reaction to Kelly Clarkson's My Heart Will Go On Cover
'Avoid spreading false information,' FEMA warns, says agency is 'prepared to respond'
Jorge Ramos reveals his final day with 'Noticiero Univision': 'It's been quite a ride'
Hurricane Milton grows 'explosively' stronger, reaches Category 5 status | The Excerpt
Teen Mom’s Ryan Edwards and Girlfriend Amanda Conner Expecting First Baby Together
What makes a storm a hurricane? The dangers across 5 categories