The FBI’s forensic analysis and the New Mexico medical examiner’s report into the October 21 death of cameraman Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Alec Baldwinmovie starring Rust have been completed and turned over to the sheriff’s office.
As part of the investigation, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said detectives will review the reports and then send the findings to the district attorney to determine whether charges will be filed for the shooting in Bonanza City, New Mexico, which also involved director Joel Souza was injured. .
Details of the documents have not been made public, but ABC news reported that the state’s Office of the Medical Investigator concluded that Hutchins’ death was caused by a gunshot wound to the chest and that a “survey of available law enforcement reports showed no convincing demonstration that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on the set.” ”
“Based on all available information, including the lack of clear intent to cause injury or death, the manner of death is best classified as an accident,” the medical examiner’s post-mortem report said.
Also between the documents ABC news said, the FBI’s findings were that testing inadvertently determined the pistol Baldwin was holding when it went off on set, hitting Hutchins and Souza, “couldn’t be made to fire without pulling the trigger with the working internal components intact.” and were functional.”
In an interview in December 2021 with ABC newsGeorge Stephanopoulos, Baldwin stated that he failed to pull the trigger on the pistol identified as a .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt) caliber F.lli Pietta single-action revolver in the FBI’s forensic report.
“She was standing next to the camera and looking at a monitor…and guiding me on how to hold the gun in this corner,” Baldwin said of his conversation with Hutchins just before the shooting.
The actor went on to say that the late cameraman had told him to cock the hammer for a particular shot. “I pulled the hammer back as far as I could without cocking the gun,” Baldwin said. “I let go of the hammer and pop, the gun goes off.”
According to the obtained forensic report, discharging the hammer into a charged chamber meant that the gun was able to detonate a primer “without pulling the trigger when the hammer was struck directly” – something the report said. normal for the type of revolver being used.
The updates to the investigation follow a Thursday statement from the sheriff’s office stating that they are working with other law enforcement agencies to obtain, process and disclose Baldwin’s phone records.
“Once the Suffolk County Police Department completes its assistance and sends that data to New Mexico law enforcement, our detectives will need to thoroughly review that phone data for evidence purposes,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in the statement.
After their full review of the reports and phone records, files related to the sheriff’s investigation will be sent to the prosecutor.