Courtroom testimony in the fatal shooting of a cinematographer by Alec Baldwin has shed new light on the events leading up to the tragic incident on the set of the Western movie 'Rust.' The assistant director, who served as the safety coordinator on set, testified that the weapons supervisor twice handed a revolver to Baldwin during rehearsal. The revolver was initially emptied of bullets, then loaded with dummy rounds and a live round.
The shooting occurred on October 20, 2021, resulting in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director Joel Souza. Baldwin, who was the lead actor and co-producer on 'Rust,' is facing involuntary manslaughter charges and is scheduled for trial in July.
The assistant director's testimony may play a crucial role in reconstructing the events that led to the shooting. He described a safety check where the weapons supervisor loaded dummy rounds into the revolver before handing it to Baldwin. The assistant director admitted negligence in not thoroughly checking the gun for live rounds.
There are conflicting accounts regarding who handed the gun to Baldwin, with both the weapons supervisor and the assistant director providing different versions of events. The assistant director recounted the moment of the shooting, stating that the cinematographer expressed an inability to feel her legs after being shot.
Defense attorneys argue that the safety issues on set were beyond the weapons supervisor's control and have raised concerns about evidence collection and investigation procedures. Prosecutors, on the other hand, hold the weapons supervisor responsible for bringing live ammunition on set and disregarding safety protocols.
In a separate testimony, a movie props supervisor admitted to discarding dummy ammunition rounds from other guns used on set in a state of shock and panic following the shooting. The ongoing trial continues to unravel the sequence of events that led to the tragic shooting on the 'Rust' movie set.
