Alec Baldwin Believed He’d Been Handed A “Cold Gun”

Alec Baldwin reportedly believed he’d been handed a “cold gun” ahead of Thursday’s fatal shooting on the set of Rust.

The shooting, which occurred on set in New Mexico, resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injury of director, Joel Souza.

According to court documents obtained by Deadline, Alec Baldwin had been rehearsing a ‘quick draw’ scene with Hutchins and Souza. The gun which was used by Baldwin was reportedly declared “cold” by the assistant director, Dave Halls, meaning it did not contain any live rounds.

However, upon firing the weapon at close range, a single live round hit Hutchins and injured Souza, who had been standing behind her.

The gun handed to the assistant director and Baldwin was allegedly prepared by the armourer, Hannah Gutierrez, who is typically responsible for weaponry on set.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has since searched the film set to seize all possible footage of the incident, as well as production equipment, memory cards, weaponry, and all cell phones. In the court documents, Souza stated that the incident was not recorded as it was intended to be a rehearsal.

Rust was reportedly plagued by safety concerns ahead of the fatal shooting. A source from the set allegedly told Deadline that another “misfire” has occurred just days before.

“A gun had two misfires in a closed cabin. They just fired loud pops – a person was holding it in their hands and it went off,” said the source.

Several crew members had also reportedly walked off set in protest over the conditions on set. They cited not being paid for three weeks, poor COVID-19 and gun safety, and being promised local hotels only to discover they were expected to drive 50 miles a day to reach production.

No arrests have been made yet.

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