District attorney says more live rounds found on ‘Rust’ set

The Santa Fe district attorney said that additional live rounds were found on the set of “Rust,” where Alec Baldwin fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

Santa Fe authorities previously announced that Hutchins and director Joel Souza had been struck by a lead bullet. On Wednesday, District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said on ABC’s “Good Morning America” that other live rounds had also been recovered from the set. She did not specify how many had been found in total.

The fact that any live rounds were present at all was “concerning,” Carmack-Altwies said.

“We still don’t know how they got on the set,” she said. “And how they got there, I think, will be one of the most important factors going into a charging decision. It’s probably more important to focus on what led up to the shooting because the moment of the shooting, we know that at least Mr. Baldwin had no idea that the gun was loaded, so it’s more how did that gun get loaded, what levels of failure happened and were those levels of failure criminal?”

EXCLUSIVE: “I know that some defense attorneys have come up with conspiracy theories and have used the word ‘sabotage.’ We do not have any proof.” — Santa Fe DA refutes claims of conspiracy in criminal investigation of deadly shooting on “Rust” set. https://t.co/kWY5S6eOU4 pic.twitter.com/QcRdxdmlbm

— Good Morning America (@GMA) November 10, 2021

Authorities say Baldwin fired the gun with a “suspected live round,” but how the live bullet got into the gun is still under investigation.

Earlier in November, an attorney for the film’s armorer suggested the fatal shooting could have been the result of “sabotage,” saying, “We’re assuming somebody put the live round in that box.”

However, Carmack-Altwies shut down any such theory. 

“I know that some defense attorneys have come up with conspiracy theories and used the word sabotage. We do not have proof,” she said. She added that she does not believe sabotage was involved. 

She added that her office knows who loaded the gun before the shooting, but did not provide a name, according to NBC News.

Carmack-Altwies will ultimately decide whether to press charges in the incident. Per NBC, she said that her office would be prepared to press criminal charges “if the circumstances warrant it,” and that, if evidence of sabotage is uncovered, “certainly a higher level of murder charge than we would potentially be looking at with the facts we have now” would be on the table.

“We will do our best to get justice for Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza,” she said.