{"id":38891,"date":"2022-08-15T18:39:24","date_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:39:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/medical-investigator-rules-baldwin-set-shooting-an-accident\/"},"modified":"2022-08-16T00:39:24","modified_gmt":"2022-08-16T00:39:24","slug":"medical-investigator-rules-baldwin-set-shooting-an-accident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/medical-investigator-rules-baldwin-set-shooting-an-accident\/","title":{"rendered":"Medical investigator rules Baldwin set shooting an accident"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"This
This aerial photo shows part of the Bonanza Creek Ranch film-set in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 23, 2021. New Mexico\u2019s Office of the Medical Investigator has determined that the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor and producer Alec Baldwin last year was an accident. (Jae C. Hong\/Associated Press file)<\/span>Jae C. Hong<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

ALBUQUERQUE \u2013 The fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor Alec Baldwin last year was an accident, according to a determination made by New Mexico\u2019s Office of the Medical Investigator after the completion of an autopsy and a review of law enforcement reports.<\/p>\n

The medical investigator\u2019s report was made public Monday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff\u2019s Office along with numerous reports from the FBI about the revolver and ammunition that were collected after the shooting.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors have not yet decided if any charges will be filed in the case, saying they would review the latest reports and were awaiting cellphone data from Baldwin\u2019s attorneys.<\/p>\n

Baldwin was pointing a gun at cinematographer Halyna Hutchins when it went off on Oct. 21, killing Hutchins and wounding the director, Joel Souza. They had been inside a small church during setup for filming a scene.<\/p>\n

While it\u2019s too early to say how much weight the medical investigator\u2019s report will carry with the District Attorney\u2019s Office, Baldwin\u2019s legal team suggested it was further proof that the shooting was \u201ca tragic accident\u201d and that he should not face criminal charges.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the third time the New Mexico authorities have found that Alec Baldwin had no authority or knowledge of the allegedly unsafe conditions on the set, that he was told by the person in charge of safety on the set that the gun was \u2018cold,\u2019 and believed the gun was safe,\u201d attorney Luke Nikas said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Baldwin said in a December interview with ABC News<\/a> that he was pointing the gun at Hutchins at her instruction on the set of the Western film \u201cRust\u201d when it went off after he cocked it. He said he did not pull the trigger.<\/p>\n

An FBI analysis of the revolver that Baldwin had in his hand during the rehearsal suggested it was in working order at the time and would not have discharged unless it was fully cocked and the trigger was pulled.<\/p>\n

With the hammer in full cock position, the FBI report said the gun could not be made to fire without pulling the trigger while the working internal components were intact and functional.<\/p>\n

During the testing of the gun by the FBI, authorities said, portions of the gun\u2019s trigger sear and cylinder stop fractured while the hammer was struck. That allowed the hammer to fall and the firing pin to detonate the primer.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the only successful discharge during this testing and it was attributed to the fracture of internal components, not the failure of the firearm or safety mechanisms,\u201d the report said.<\/p>\n

It was unclear from the FBI report how many times the revolver\u2019s hammer may have been struck during the testing.<\/p>\n

Baldwin, who also was a producer on the movie \u201cRust,\u201d has previously said the gun should not have been loaded for the rehearsal.<\/p>\n

Among the ammunition seized from the film location were live rounds found on a cart and in the holster that was in the building where the shooting happened. Blank and dummy cartridges also were found.<\/p>\n

New Mexico\u2019s Occupational Health and Safety Bureau in a scathing report issued in April<\/a> detailed a narrative of safety failures in violation of standard industry protocols, including testimony that production managers took limited or no action to address two misfires on set before the fatal shooting.<\/p>\n

The bureau also documented gun safety complaints from crew members that went unheeded and said weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training.<\/p>\n

In reaching its conclusion that the shooting was an accident, New Mexico\u2019s medical investigator\u2019s office pointed to \u201cthe absence of obvious intent to cause harm or death\u201d and said there was said \u201cno compelling demonstration\u201d that the revolver was intentionally loaded with live ammunition on the set.<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Walter Berry in Phoenix contributed to this report.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"In
In this image from video released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff\u2019s Office, Alec Baldwin stands in costume and speaks with investigators after a fatal shooting last year on a movie set in Santa Fe, N.M. New Mexico\u2019s Office of the Medical Investigator has determined that the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor and producer Baldwin last year was an accident. (Santa Fe County Sheriff\u2019s Office via AP, File)<\/span>Uncredited<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

aerial photo shows part of the Bonanza Creek Ranch film-set in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 23, 2021. New Mexico\u2019s Office of the Medical Investigator has determined that the fatal film-set shooting of a cinematographer by actor and producer Alec Baldwin last year was an accident. (Jae C. Hong\/Associated Press file)Jae C. Hong ALBUQUERQUE […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":38892,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[815,138],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-38891","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-associated-press-new-mexico","tag-new-mexico"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38891","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=38891"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/38891\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/38892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=38891"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=38891"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=38891"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=38891"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}