New Mexico police have released evidence from the Rust investigation

Bonanza Creek Ranch, Rust Photo: PATRICK T. FALLON / AFP via Getty Images

The San Fe Sheriff’s Office made a somewhat surprising move this week when it released a large volume of footage – camera footage, interview videos, photos and more – from the investigation into the fatal shooting of Alec Baldwin’s Western Rust. The department made the materials available to the public on Monday, despite its own claims that the investigation is ongoing as the FBI has yet to analyze the firearm fired into Alec Baldwin’s hand on October 21, 2021, injuring director Joel Souza. and the killer of cameraman Halina Hutchins.

ABC News reports that a lawyer for the Hutchins family, which is suing the film’s producers, said they were “surprised” that the material had been released, apparently on a request for public recordings from the department. The news comes shortly after the film’s production company received the highest possible fine from the OHSB in New Mexico, citing “safety deficiencies” on set.

From what we’ve seen, much of the footage released this week seems to focus on the ongoing question of how a live bullet ended up in the gun Baldwin held, including showing police interviews with both Baldwin and gunman Hannah Gutierrez. Reed. In an interview, Gutierrez-Reed (who was the focal point for weapons safety investigations on the Rust set) claimed that she checked the cartridges provided to the production before the rehearsal, and other footage showed that she was deeply deranged by the investigation. from the shooting.

The sheriff’s office said it released the footage in the interests of “transparency.”

It is expected that at least a few months will pass before a real legal decision is made (in a civil or criminal court) for what happened on the set of the film. Baldwin gave several interviews about the incident in the following months; he repeatedly claimed that he had never pulled the trigger on the pistol and that he had discharged himself after releasing his hammer as he aimed it at the camera in Hutchins’ direction.