In the aftermath of the seemingly accidental and fatal shooting that happened on the set of Alec Baldwin’s movie “Rust,” there are still questions regarding exactly what happened and who is at fault.
On Oct. 21, while filming on set for his upcoming western movie, Baldwin was given a gun for his scene. The scene involved drawing a revolver and pointing it at the camera, as The New York Times reported.
But then the gun fired, and hit cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the chest and director Joel Souza in the shoulder. Hutchins, unfortunately, died from the gunshot.
Questions around the incident immediately followed. Why was there a live gun on set? Did Baldwin know it was loaded with live rounds? Why did seemingly no one notice there were live bullets in the gun before it was handed off to Baldwin?
In an interview clip released on Wednesday, Baldwin said that he did not pull the trigger.
Asked by @GStephanopoulos how a real bullet got on the “Rust” set, Alec Baldwin says: “I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
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“Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” the actor told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos.
“So you never pulled the trigger?” Stephanopoulos pointedly asked him.
“No, no, no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never,” Baldwin answered.
Baldwin said he had no idea there was a live bullet in the gun and furthermore, he had no clue how live rounds of ammo even got onto the premises.
Reuters noted the full interview with Stephanopoulos will be released on Thursday, but some clips were posted on Wednesday.
Law enforcement is still investigating the incident and no charges have been filed, according to CNBC.
While this killing seems to be a complete accident, Baldwin’s surety that he did not pull the trigger is questionable. Maybe he cannot remember or has blocked out the day’s events in his mind, but for a gun to go off on its own is nearly impossible.
It is technically possible for a gun to accidentally discharge, perhaps if it is dropped, but it’s extraordinarily rare. Furthermore, Baldwin had a revolver, which tends to be one of the most fail-safe guns, even in the case of accidental discharges. Most guns will have a drop-safety or firing pin block.
“Modern revolvers tend to be the ‘safest’ gun in terms of dropping accidents, as there is a slide bar between the hammer and firing pin,” Science ABC explained.
It may never be known what really happened on the set that day. It was likely an accident, and with so many moving parts, there is immense confusion over how everything happened. But due to the typical mechanisms of a revolver, it is unlikely that Baldwin didn’t touch the trigger at all and the gun just fired.
Baldwin admitted to Stephanopoulos that this is the worst thing that has ever happened to him. But the in the interview, the actor was ready to answer questions and share what he knew.
“As you can imagine he’s devastated but he was also very candid, he was very forthcoming,” Stephanopoulos said, as Reuters reported. “He answered every question.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.
