By Emma Soteriou
Alec Baldwin is set to face further questioning after police confirmed they recovered the bullet from the fatal shooting on a film set in New Mexico.
The suspected live round – which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza – was accidentally shot by Baldwin on the set of his western film Rust.
County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed the development during a press conference alongside Santa Fe’s district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.
Around 500 rounds of ammunition were recovered from the set – a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and live rounds.
Details of the projectile – “apparently the same round” that killed Hutchins – cannot be confirmed until it undergoes further testing, the Sheriff said.
Two people handled the revolver, described by the district attorney as an “antique-era appropriate gun”, before it was given to Baldwin, authorities said. They were armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed and assistant director David Halls.
The assistant director handed Baldwin the firearm and shouted “cold gun”, indicating it was safe, court records showed.
Carmack-Altwies said a “complete and thorough investigation is critical” but “if the facts and evidence and law support charges then I will initiate prosecution at that time”.
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Asked about whether Baldwin could face charges, the district attorney said “all options are on the table at this point”.
She said: “I’m not commenting on charges, whether they will be filed or not or on whom.
“We cannot answer that question yet until we complete a more thorough investigation.
“No-one has been ruled out at this point.”
Baldwin previously said he was heartbroken by the incident and fully cooperating with the ongoing investigation.
Police were called at about 2pm local time on October 21 to reports of the shooting on the set at Bonanza Creek Ranch.
Production on Rust has since been paused while police investigate the incident and producers have reportedly opened an internal probe into the fatal shooting.
*LBC