Alec Baldwin Speaks Out After “Rust” Shooting
by Emily Nagle
More than a week after the tragic shooting on the set of “Rust” that killed one person and injured another, Alec Baldwin has spoken out. While he is prohibited from discussing the shooting itself due to ongoing police investigation, a video released by TMZ on Saturday depicted Baldwin explaining his close relationship with 42-year-old cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, who was killed in the October 21 incident, as well as his interest in limiting firearms on film sets.
“I’m not allowed to make any comments, because it’s an ongoing investigation. I’ve been ordered by the sheriff’s department in Santa Fe. It’s an active investigation of someone dying…she was my friend,” Alec Baldwin explained to a swarm of reporters in the video.
On October 21, while on set in New Mexico for “Rust”, Alec Baldwin fatally shot a prop gun while practicing a gun-drawing technique for one of his scenes. Although the crew had been told that there was no ammunition inside of the gun, it turned out that the revolver was loaded with a projectile and gunpowder. As a result, when Baldwin fired the gun, a bullet shot through the chest of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins before landing in the shoulder of 48-year-old director Joel Souza. While Souza is recovering from his injuries, Hutchins died after being airlifted to a hospital.
Baldwin’s wife Hilaria was also in the video shot in Manchester, VT, where TMZ says Baldwin and his family have been “laying low since the incident,” and got annoyed with reporters when they didn’t remember Hutchins’ name, telling them, “Her name is Halyna. If you’re spending this much time waiting for us you should know her name.”
While paparazzi mostly wanted to know the details of the fatal incident, a tense Baldwin shut them down multiple times throughout the 3-minute video. He described the experience of meeting with Hutchins’ family after her death, including that her husband and 9-year-old son are “overwhelmed with grief…in shock”. He even shared that he believes production for “Rust” will not continue. After answering questions for a few minutes, Baldwin walked away from paparazzi, explaining that his children were in the car crying, as him getting questioned by police has become a regular occurrence since the incident.