shooting on the set for the film “Rust” may result in criminal charges, said a New Mexico district attorney.
District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies told the New York Pezou that officials are still investigating and “haven’t ruled out anything” on whether charges could be filed.
Last week, actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on the set of the Western film near Santa Fe when he discharged a loaded gun, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. Baldwin, who is also the film’s executive producer, hasn’t been charged in the incident.
“Everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table,” Carmack-Altwies told the NY Pezou. “re were an enormous amount of bullets on this set, and we need to find out what kinds they were,” she added.
Regarding the firearm that Baldwin used, the district attorney said that “it was a legit gun … an antique, era-appropriate gun.”
Court documents filed in the case revealed that an assistant director, Dave Halls, unwittingly handed Baldwin a loaded weapon and told him it was safe—yelling “cold gun”—moments before he used the firearm.
In a statement to Twitter, Baldwin said he is cooperating with the investigation and expressed his condolences to the family of Hutchins.
“re are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation,” Baldwin wrote on Twitter. “My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
Individuals who were working on the set of “Rust” are now being interviewed, Carmack-Altwies said. It will likely take weeks or even months until an indictment is potentially handed down, she continued.
“We have complex cases all the time,” she said. “But this kind of complex case, with these kinds of prominent people, no.”
Some criminal attorneys, including Alan Dershowitz and Mark Geragos, have suggested that Baldwin or someone else could face charges in the shooting.
“Alec Baldwin is presumably in charge because he’s the producer and has a great voice on the budget here,” Geragos told Fox News this week. “I guarantee you they’re also looking at whether or not people were shaving money or trying to cut costs and [whether] this is one of the results of that.”
And Dershowitz, writing for Hill, opined that he believes Hutchins’ death will be considered a homicide.
“It is likely, therefore, that the killing of Halyna Hutchins could constitute a homicide—that is, a criminal killing,” said Dershowitz, a criminal defense lawyer who has represented the likes of Mike Tyson, Jim Bakker, and Jeffrey Epstein. “ remaining questions are who might be criminally responsible for the killing and what degree of homicide fits the evidence?”
Pezou has contacted Baldwin’s representative for comment.
Pezou : District Attorney: Criminal Charges ‘On the Table’ in Alec Baldwin Shooting