Alec Baldwin has taken to Twitter to share two news articles that state that the gun handed to him on the set of Rust was deemed safe by the production's assistant director.
Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer was accidentally killed on October 21 after Baldwin fired a Colt revolver that had been loaded with live ammunition — unbeknownst to him.
The incident, which took place on the set of the film Rust, also resulted in the film's director being injured.
On October 27, the actor retweeted an article from the official New York Times Twitter account. It linked to a report titled: Gun Handed To Alec Baldwin Was Not Thoroughly Checked, Affidavit Says.
The tweet was captioned, "Before he handed a revolver that he had declared “cold” to Alec Baldwin on the set of the film 'Rust,' Dave Halls, an assistant director, told a detective he should have inspected each round in each chamber, according to an affidavit. But he did not."
Baldwin first retweeted a link to a report by Variety on Saturday, October 23. The article references an affidavit filed by the Santa Fe County's Sheriff's Office. It disclosed that the assistant director of the film had shouted "cold gun" on set, meaning that the prop firearm was safe to use, and signaled that it didn't contain live ammunition.
On October 26, a district attorney in Santa Fe, New Mexico, announced that she had not ruled out criminal charges over the death of Hutchins.
"We haven’t ruled out anything," district attorney, Mary Carmack-Altwies, said during a telephone interview, per The New York Times. "Everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table."
Carmack-Altwies said that the verbiage, "prop gun", is misleading and that the firearm that killed Hutchins was a "legit gun," which she described as an "antique-era appropriate gun."
Baldwin took to Twitter to issue a statement on October 22, saying that his "heart is broken" following the death of Hutchins.
"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours," the actor wrote.
"I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."