Affidavit Says Alec Baldwin 'Had Been Very Careful' Handling Guns on the Set of 'Rust'

A recently released affidavit is shedding light on the tragic accident that took place on the set of Rust.

Earlier this week, actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun on the set of the film that took the life of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. It also injured director Joel Souza, who has since been released from the hospital.

The affidavit, written by Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department Detective Joel Cano, says that Alec “had been very careful” handling the firearm and had also made sure that no children were present when it was being discharged during an earlier scene, per Deadline.

Click inside to find out what else it says…

It also notes that assistant director Dave Halls “did not know live rounds were in the prop gun when he had given to the prop gun to the Actor Alec Baldwin.”

Though the detective used the word “rounds,” it’s unclear from the document whether there were any unfired rounds remaining in the gun.

He also wrote, “During the filming of the movie, the Assistant Director (Dave Halls) grabbed one of three ‘prop-guns’ that was set-up by the Armorer (Hannah Gutierrez), which was on a cart. The cart is a gray in color rolling table with two layers and was left outside of the structure due to Covid-19 restrictions.”

Joel also said he “learned one of the prop-guns was then grabbed by the assistant director (Dave Halls) and he took it to the actor identified as Alec Baldwin who was inside of the structure. As the assistant director (Dave Halls) handed the gun to the actor Alec Baldwin, (Dave Halls) yelled, ‘Cold Gun,’ indicating the prop-gun did not have any live rounds.”

The affidavit also states that Joel, Halyna and Alec were working on a scene, with the actor practicing a cross draw. The director recalled hearing something that “sounded like a whip and then a loud pop.”

Only one bullet was fired, which went through Halyna before striking Joel Souza.

The prop gun was then given to the film’s armorer Hannah Gutierrez, who took the casing out of the weapon. Deadline writes that the slug that hit Joel Souza was removed while he was at the hospital and is now part of the evidence in the case.

Detective Joel Cano adds that the director “stated that the work day started at approximately 6:30 a.m. He went on to say that the crew usually meets and has breakfast on the property. During the morning hours, the day started off late due to a camera crew that had quit and they had to find another camera crew to help film the movie. Joel said once they hired another camera crew to assist, the day was taking longer than usual because they only had one camera to do the filming. Joel was asked about the employees’ behavior, and he said everyone was getting along there were no altercations that took place to his knowledge.”

Earlier today, Alec‘s wife Hilaria issued a statement about the accident.