Actor Alec Baldwin said he “didn’t pull the trigger” of the gun that was in his hand when it was fired, killing one and injuring another on the New Mexico set of his latest film “Rust.”
During a preview released Wednesday of an exclusive interview with ABC News’ set to air Thursday, George Stephanopoulos noted that the film’s script did not call for the gun’s trigger to be pulled.
“Well, the trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin responded.
“So, you never pulled the trigger?” Stephanopoulos pressed.
“No, no, no, no no. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger,” Baldwin insisted. “Never.”
Stephanopoulos also asked Baldwin how a real bullet got on the film’s set, to which Baldwin said he had “no idea.”
“Someone put a live bullet in a gun,” Baldwin said. “A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property.”
When asked if this situation is “the worst thing that’s ever happened” to him, Baldwin firmly responded, “Yes.”
“Because I think back and I think of what could I have done,” Baldwin added.
According to Reuters, an affidavit of the October 21 incident revealed that Baldwin was practicing drawing an antique revolver across his body and pointing it at the camera when it discharged, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
“Joel stated that they had Alec sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of (Hutchins), when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop,” the affidavit stated.
The document said Hutchins was shot in the chest.
“Joel then vaguely remembers (Hutchins) complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection. Joel also said (Hutchins) began to stumble backwards and she was assisted to the ground,” the affidavit continued.
Baldwin described the late filmmaker as “someone who was loved by everyone who worked with [her] and liked by everyone who worked with [her], and admired… I mean, even now I find it hard to believe that [she’s gone]. It doesn’t seem real to me.”
The FBI and Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the shooting, and this week law enforcement issued a new search warrant that could reveal the source of the live bullet.
“We trust that the FBI will now compare and analyze the ‘live rounds’ seized from the set to evidence seized in the search warrant to conclusively determine where the live rounds came from,” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s attorney, Jason Bowles, told ABC News in a statement. “The questions of who introduced the live rounds onto the set and why are the central questions in the case.”
