Two New Mexico attorneys representing Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the armorer working on the Rust film set, appeared on NBC's Today show Wednesday morning to share their theory that the fatal shooting Oct. 21 at Bonanza Creek Ranch was the result of sabotage.
Jason Bowles said Gutierrez-Reed loaded the gun with rounds she had grabbed from an ammunition box labeled "dummy." He proposed a live round — or several live rounds — may have been placed in the box.
"We're assuming somebody put the live round in that box," Bowles said. He is one of two Albuquerque-based attorneys representing Gutierrez-Reed, who was responsible for the prop firearms used on the set, where Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office investigators say actor Alec Baldwin fired a revolver with a live round during a rehearsal in a church building, killing renowned cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounding film director Joel Souza, 48.
The sheriff's office has not yet filed any criminal charges in the shooting but is continuing to investigate the incident to determine how a live round got into the revolver Baldwin was using on the set and why no one noticed the error until after the fatal shot.
"The person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging the set — there is no other reason you would do that," Bowles said on Today.
It was the second time this week a New Mexico attorney representing a film worker who may have handled Baldwin's revolver appeared on national television to defend their client.
Assistant director Dave Halls' attorney, Lisa Torraco, told Fox News on Monday he was "not responsible" for the tragedy.
"My client didn’t load the firearm, didn’t point the firearm at anyone and didn’t pull the trigger,” Torraco told reporter Martha MacCallum.
She also suggested Halls was not the person who handed Baldwin the firearm.
Halls and Gutierrez-Reed have come under heavy scrutiny since the incident. Search warrant affidavits written by sheriff's office investigators say Halls had grabbed the gun from a cart of weapons set up by Gutierrez-Reed and gave it to the 63-year-old Hollywood star and producer, and yelled, “Cold gun,” meaning it had no live rounds.
But Sheriff Adan Mendoza said Tuesday there have been "conflicting statements" about what occurred on the set that day.
Investigators are trying to schedule follow-up interviews with key witnesses, the sheriff said — he indicated those include Halls and Gutierrez-Reed — but have had "difficulty."
Robert Gorence, the second attorney representing Gutierrez-Reed, also spoke on Today, noting the revolver was left on a cart unattended from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. the day of the shooting. The ammunition was left in a "prop truck," he added.
Guns on set normally were locked in a safe, Gorence said.
The prop truck "was completely unattended at all times, giving someone access and opportunity," he said. "The tray was outside the church for over two hours after [Gutierrez-Reed] had prepped them for what was going to be an afternoon filming session."
The scenario contradicted what investigators described in a search warrant affidavit. The document said Gutierrez-Reed had told them the firearms were secured in a safe on the prop truck when the crew broke for lunch. She said the ammunition was left unsecured on a cart, according to the affidavit.
The attorneys told Today Gutierrez-Reed at one point showed the gun to Halls and spun the chamber, which was loaded with what she believed to be six dummy rounds.
Halls later took the gun into the church, where Gutierrez-Reed was not present, Gorence said.
Gutierrez-Reed had two roles on the set, he added. She also served as a key props assistant and was only paid "part-time" for her position as head armorer.
"At 11 [a.m.], nothing was going on at that point," Bowles said. "She had the guns prepped. She had them laid out on the cart. They then went to lunch. She had another duty and responsibility as key props assistant, and so she had gone to do that right after she had provided the handgun to Mr. Halls."
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