Entertainment
Sheriff in ‘Rust’ investigation discusses ‘concerning’ text messages
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza injured throughout a rehearsal for a scene in within the movie on the New Mexico set in October.
“Proper now, nobody has come ahead and admitted to bringing the stay rounds onto the film set. There was info from textual content messages that was regarding based mostly on the truth that stay ammo was spoken about and was probably used on a previous film set and that was only a few months earlier than the ‘Rust’ film set manufacturing started, so that’s regarding,” stated Sheriff Mendoza.
Among the many objects investigators are taking a look at are textual content messages “Rust” movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed shared with an ammunition provider for a earlier movie in 2021 — not “Rust” — the place she acknowledged that she deliberate on taking pictures stay ammunition whereas on set.
The textual content change was included in Monday’s public launch of information associated to the Santa Fe County Sheriff Workplace’s ongoing investigation.
A regulation enforcement official advised CNN they take into account the textual content change vital as they attempt to decide whether or not the armorer made a follow of conducting stay fireplace workout routines on the similar time she was chargeable for security on units.
Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer Jason Bowles advised CNN his shopper needed to fireplace the gun to grasp how the historic weapon labored, and maintains she did not fireplace stay rounds on set.
Mendoza stated the investigation into the case is greater than 200 pages proper now they usually’re nonetheless ready on forensics stories from the FBI and the ultimate report from the workplace of the medical investigator.
“It is exhausting to find out proper now, the route that the case goes to go,” he stated. “I’ve stated this earlier than, I feel there was complacency on the set. There was disorganization and a level of negligence. Whether or not that rises to a prison degree, that shall be as much as the district lawyer.”
He additionally stated whether or not actor Alec Baldwin shall be in the end held chargeable for the shot that killed the film’s cinematographer and injured the assistant director shall be left to the District Legal professional’s workplace.
“I do not assume anyone is off the hook in terms of prison expenses,” Mendoza stated.
In an effort to be “clear” concerning the “Rust” taking pictures investigation, Sheriff Mendoza stated the intensive info launch was a part of a public information request.
“As you possibly can see, it is a great quantity of knowledge, and it took us a while to place it collectively and we tried to launch it as quickly as we had every thing collectively and we had an avenue to launch the data,” Mendoza stated.