The gun used in the fatal shooting on the set of the movie “Rust” could not have been fired without pulling the trigger, according to an FBI forensics report obtained Friday by ABC News.
Actor Alec Baldwin shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the western, which he was producing and starring in, last year. The actor believed he was handling a “cold gun” — one without live ammunition — when he fired and a live bullet hit Hutchins, killing her. The film’s director, Joel Souza, was also injured in the shooting.
Accidental discharge tests determined that the firearm used in the shooting, a .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt) F.lli Pietta single-action revolver, could not have fired without pulling the trigger, according to the FBI report.
With the hammer at the quarter and half-cock positions, the gun “could not be fired without pulling the trigger,” the report states.
With the hammer fully cocked, the gun “could not be fired without pulling the trigger while the internal workings were intact and functional,” the report states.
The Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, NM on October 23, 2021.
Jae C. Hong/AP, FILE
With the hammer cocked in a loaded chamber, the gun was able to detonate a primer “without pulling the trigger when the hammer was struck directly,” which is normal for this type of revolver, according to the report.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos in December, Baldwin said he did not pull the gun’s trigger.
“The trigger was not pulled,” he said. “I didn’t pull the trigger.”
ABC News reached out to representatives for Baldwin and Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who was in charge of all the guns on the “Rust” set, but has not yet heard back.
Actor Alec Baldwin attends the 2019 PEN America Literary Gala in New York on May 21, 2019.
Evan Agostini / Invision / AP, FILE
The forensic report is part of a criminal investigation into the shooting on the set. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, which is leading the homicide investigation, received the report and other documents from the FBI related to the shooting earlier this month, the sheriff’s office said Thursday .
The documents have been reviewed by the New Mexico Office of the Medical Examiner, which has ruled Hutchins’ death an accident, according to an autopsy report obtained by ABC News.
“Death was caused by a gunshot wound to the chest. Review of available law enforcement reports did not show any convincing evidence that the firearm was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on set,” states the report “Based on all available information, including the absence of an obvious intent to cause harm or death, the manner of death is best classified as an accident.”
The local district attorney has not yet made a decision on charges in the case. Detectives are awaiting Baldwin’s phone records as part of their investigation, the sheriff’s office said Thursday.