Giving an astonishing interview to 60-year-old ABC News host George Stephanopoulos, 63-year-old Alec Baldwin stepped deeper into his legal quagmire for the Oct. 21 shooting of 42-year-old cinematograhpher Halyna Hutchin. In an interview scheduled to air today, Baldwin told Stephanopoulos he didn’t pull the trigger, a statement that could come back to haunt him. Stephanpopoulos asked Baldwin why he pointed the gun a Hutchins and pulled the trigger when it wasn’t in the script. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin insisted, making zero sense of how a six-shooter, revolver would suddenly discharge without the trigger being pulled. “So he never pulled the trigger?” asked Stephanopoulos. “No, no, no, no,” Baldwin answered. “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them, never,” Baldwin said indicting his own credibility.
Since Hutchin’s untimely death, Baldwin has insisted that it was a freak accident because the assistant producer David Halls handed him the gun and told him it was “cold,” meaning there was no live ammo in the barrel or chamber. So now the story morphs for Baldwin to the gun fired itself, the gun went off by itself. Baldwin told Stephanopoulos he had no idea how a live round got into the prop-gun. “Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” Baldwin said, getting more confused about what happened. Telling Stephanopoulos that the gun fired itself opens up a can of worms for Baldwin, now affecting New Mexico authorities’ decision to charge him or others with a crime. Baldwin’s statement to Stephanopoulos is bewildering, knowing that guns don’t discharge on their own. Stephanopoulos knows Baldwin can get surly when confronted.
Baldwin claims he keeps pouring over the incident in his mind, trying to figure out what happened. But eyewitnesses know exactly what happened Oct. 21 at the Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe, New Mexico. Eyewitnesses, including Halls and “Rust” director Joel Souza, saw Baldwing practice a cross-draw exercise, then fire a single 45 caliber round into Hutchin’s chest, exiting and hitting Souza in the shoulder. That’s what happened if Baldwin needs to refresh his memory. “I think back and I think of what could have I done,” Baldwin told Stephanopoulos. “Even now I find it hard to believe that it happened,” Baldwin said. “It doesn’t seem real to me,” attesting to his murky recollection of events because of the trauma of watching his beloved director of photography, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins gunned down. Baldwin heard Hutchins last words, “that was no good, no good at all,”
Changing his story now should be immediate grounds for New Mexico authorities to charge Baldwin, Halls and “Rust”24-year-old armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed with something, like involuntary manslaughter or at least negligence. Stephanopoulos was dumbfounded when Baldwin told him he didn’t pull the trigger, something he didn’t deny until just now. Baldwin blamed Hall and Gutierrez Reed for handing him a loaded firearm with which he fatally shot Hutchins. Suddenly, Baldwin changes his story that the gun just went off spontaneously without him pulling the trigger. Gutierrez Reed said she had no idea how a live round got into the chamber of the prop gun fired by Baldwin. Saying the gun went off by itself now reveals Baldwin’s improbable defense when he’s charged by New Mexico authorities. Whoever had sympathy for Baldwin before, now starts to doubt his story.
Stephanopoulos didn’t know where to go with the interview after Baldwin denied pulling the trigger. Stephanopoulos admitted it was the most intense interview of his journalistic career, largely because he didn’t know what to expect from Baldwin, someone known to get hot-under-the-collar when challenged. Baldwin’s denial about pulling the trigger is a game-changer, knowing what he’s said since Hutchin’s shooting death Oct. 21. New Mexico authorities issued a search warrant for PDQ Arm & Prop LLC in Albuquerque, believed to be the source of the live ammo. Guttierrez Reed’s father, also an armorer, has a link to Seth Kenny, the owner of PDQ Arm & Prop supply in Albuquerque. How that warrant sheds light on what happened Oct. 21 is anyone’s guess. What’s known for sure based on eyewitness reports is that Baldwin raised the gun, pointed it at Hutchins and pulled the trigger.
Baldwin’s defied legal advice giving ABC’s George Stephanopoulos an exclusive interview that airs tonight. Thinking he could float a new trial balloon on what happened Oct. 21, Baldwin sheepishly denied pulling the trigger of the gun the killed 42-year-old cienematographer Halyna Hutchins. Saying he didn’t pull the trigger opens up a can of worms for Baldwin, now that he’s changed his story. There’s now ample grounds for New Mexico authorities to move toward prosecution, knowing that the 63-year-old actor changed his story in midstream. Guns don’t go off spontaneously without a trigger getting pulled, especially old fashion six-shooters, where a trigger must be pulled to discharge a round. “No, no, no, no,” Balwin told Stephanopoulos. I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them,” giving New Mexico authorities everything they need now to charge Baldwin.
