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Jason Bowles said his client, Hannah Gutierrez,
had pulled ammunition from a box that she believed contained
only dummy rounds that were incapable of firing. He said he
thought it was possible that someone purposely placed real
bullets, which look similar to dummies, in the box.
"We're afraid that could have been what happened here, that
somebody intended to sabotage this set with a live round
intentionally placed in a box of dummies," Bowles said on ABC
television's "Good Morning America."
"We're not saying anybody had any intent there was going to be a
tragedy of homicide," he added, "but they wanted to do something
to cause a safety incident on set. That's what we believe
happened."
A spokeswoman for producers Rust Movie Productions had no
comment on Bowles' remarks. The company has said it is
investigating the incident and had received no official
complaints about safety on the set in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Authorities are investigating the matter and no charges have
been filed against anyone involved.
"Never in a million years did Hannah think that live rounds
could have been in the 'dummy' round box," Bowles said in a
statement later on Wednesday.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on Oct. 21 when a gun
Baldwin was holding released a live bullet, police said. Baldwin
had been told by assistant director Dave Halls that the gun was
"cold", an industry term meaning it is safe to use.
Bowles said Gutierrez had checked the gun before giving it to
Halls. She spun the cylinder and showed Halls each of the
rounds, which she believed were six dummy rounds, he said. Halls
then took the gun into the church where Baldwin was rehearsing a
scene.
He said that Gutierrez took her job seriously, had given Baldwin
and other actors on the film firearms training, and "did
everything in her power to ensure a safe set."
Before the shooting, camera operators had quit the film to
protest against what they said were long hours and other
objectionable working conditions, authorities in Santa Fe have
said.
Asked who would intentionally place live ammunition with dummy
rounds, Bowles said on NBC's "Today" show that he believed it
could be a person who wanted "to prove a point, to say that
they're disgruntled, they're unhappy".
"And we know that people had already walked off the set the day
before," he said.
Baldwin, who was also a producer on the film, has said he is
heartbroken and is cooperating with authorities https://www.reuters.com/world/us/alec-baldwin-calls-movie-shooting-death-one-trillion-episode-2021-10-30.
On Tuesday, he shared a message on social media https://www.reuters.com/article/us-film-rust-shooting/alec-baldwin-posts-crew-member-comments-disputing-chaotic-movie-set-idUSKBN2HO01F
from a crew member who disputed reports of chaos and a lax
attitude toward safety on the set.
An attorney for Halls did not immediately respond to a request
for comment on Wednesday.
(Reporting by Lisa RichwineEditing by Mark Heinrich, Robert
Birsel)
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