Actor Alec Baldwin spoke to the media in front of the camera for the first time on Saturday since he fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of a film in New Mexico earlier this month.
“It’s an active investigation in the sense – a woman died, she was my friend,” Baldwin said of Hutchins in a video made by the paparazzi and published by TMZ. “We were a very, very well-oiled team shooting the film together, and then this horrible event happened.”
Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza wounded after Baldwin fired a bullet from a pistol he used as a prop. during exercise for the western film “Rust” earlier this month. According to a police statement, assistant director David Halls handed Baldwin the gun and said it was “cold” – meaning safe to use – just moments before the shooting.
Baldwin said he took Hutchins and Souza to dinner the day he came to film “Rust”.
He added on Saturday that he had met Hutchins’ husband Matthew and described him as “shocked”.
“She has a 9-year-old son,” Baldwin said. “We are in constant contact with him because we are very concerned about his family and child. Like I said, we’re looking forward to the sheriff’s department telling us what their investigation has yielded.
The actor, who described the shooting as a “one in a trillion” accident, said he was in favor of using fewer firearms in movie venues.
“I know I am very interested in the ongoing efforts to limit the use of firearms in film venues,” he said.
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