Souza spoke to investigators on Friday, according to an affidavit released Sunday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
The affidavit states that Souza told him that Baldwin “was sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw.” A cross draw occurs when a shooter draws a weapon from a holster on the opposite side of the body.
According to the affidavit, Souza was looking over Hutchins’ shoulder “when she heard what sounded like a whip and then popped loudly”.
The document said Souza remembered Hutchins “complaining about his stomach and grabbing his middle after he was shot”.
The affidavit said investigators also spoke to camera operator Reed Russell, who was standing next to Souza and Hutchins at the time of the incident.
Investigators said Russell remembered Hutchins saying “she couldn’t feel her legs” and that doctors treated her because she was bleeding on the floor.
Both Souza and Russell admitted to having difficulties on set that day due to a walkout by some members of the camera department over payment and accommodation. Due to labor problems, Souza said, he only had one camera available to use that day, and it was not recording at the time of the incident.
Souza also confirmed to an investigator that he heard the word “cold gun” on set, implying that the gun should have been empty.
According to the warrant, Souza said three people were handling the firearms for the scenes – they were checked by armorer and the assistant director first and then given to the actor using them.
The investigator said Souza was not aware that anyone on the set was being checked to see if he had ammunition on him before or after the scene was shot.
“The only thing that has been investigated is that they contain firearms to avoid live ammunition. There should never be live rounds in or near the scene,” Joel (Souza) said in the affidavit.
Representatives for Souza have not returned CNN’s requests for comment.
According to the affidavit, Russell told investigators that Baldwin was “trying to explain how he was going to remove the gun and where his hand would be when the shotgun was pulled from the holster.”
The affidavit said, Russell “was not sure why the gun was released and only remembered the loud bang from the gun.”
Asked how Baldwin handled the firearm, Russell told investigators that the actor was “very careful” and recalled an earlier instance when Baldwin “made sure it was safe and that a child was not with him when He was discharging a shotgun during that scene.”
The search warrant sought to recover any footage, video cameras, computer equipment and memory cards used by the cameras on the set.
No charges have been filed. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office says it will discuss the matter further at a news conference on Wednesday.
The assistant director was the subject of complaints
According to an earlier search warrant affidavit, the film’s assistant director David Hall handed Baldwin a prop gun and shouted “cold gun” before shooting.
The affidavit states that Baldwin was given one of three prop guns that had been installed in a carriage by Armor for the film and that Hall did not know that the gun had live rounds.
Complaints against Hall included disobeying safety protocols for the use of weapons and pyrotechnics, blocking fire lanes and exits, and instances of inappropriate sexual behavior in the workplace.
Maggie Gaul, an IATSE Local 44 prop maker and licensed pyrotechnician, said in a statement to CNN that while working on Hulu’s “Into the Dark” anthology series in February and May of 2019, Hall used to organize security meetings. ignored and consistently failed to announce. The presence of a firearm on set for the crew, as is protocol.
Hall did not respond to CNN’s request for comment about Gall’s allegations.
On the set of the film “Freedom’s Path”, also in 2019, Hall was working as an assistant director when a gun on the set “unexpectedly discharged”, causing a sound crew member to retreat from the explosion. and halted production, production company Rocket Soul Studios told CNN on Monday.
The sound crew member was evacuated by an on-set medic and advised to seek medical treatment. Rocket Soul Studios said that the crew members returned to production a few days later.
Following the incident, Hall was removed from the set and fired from production, the company said.
“Dave was deeply remorseful for the incidents, and understood the reasons why he was being terminated,” said Rocket Soul Studios. “A new armorer was hired along with a new assistant director for the duration of principal photography.”
Hall could not be reached for comment on the incident.
Three crew members, who did not wish to be identified for fear of industry retaliation, said they were concerned for the safety of the crew and cast on set even before the incident.
A crew member stated that in the moments before the accidental discharge, the gun was declared as “no fire” or “cold weapon”. A second crew member said he asked several times whether the gun had been approved for use in shots and did not get a clear answer.
All three said the production did not hold regular safety meetings.
“He was a man with enough red flags that his career should have already been done. Yet he was still out there and putting the crew in abusive conditions. It’s hard to think that Halina was even one of our crew. Maybe,” said one of them.
Gun safety on the set of ‘Rust’
Armor, who designed the prop gun used by Baldwin on Thursday, was identified in search warrant documents as Hannah Gutierrez. She had recently completed work on her first project as Head Armour, she said in a September podcast interview.
“I was really nervous about it at first,” Gutierrez said of working as Head Armor on the set of “The Old Way” starring Nicolas Cage.
“I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure I was ready, but doing it like it went really smoothly,” he said in an interview on the “Voice of the West” podcast. old West.
He said his job as an armorer ranged from teaching actors to wear gun belts to aiming and shooting.
According to multiple news reports, there were at least two accidental prop gun discharges on set in the days before the fatal shooting.
The makers of the film said in a statement on Friday that they were not aware of the prop safety issues prior to the fatal shooting.
“The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of everyone associated with Rust Productions and the company. Although we were not made aware of any official complaints related to weapon or prop safety on set, we will be reviewing our processes internally. While production is closed. We will continue to cooperate with Santa Fe officials in their investigation and provide mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time,” said Rust Movie Productions LLC.
CNN’s Julia Jones, Gregory Lemos, Mayumi Maruyama, Karen Smith and Lucy Kafanov contributed to this report.
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