Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ shooting investigation moves forward as FBI completes forensic reports

Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ shooting investigation moves forward as FBI completes forensic reports

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Nearly 10 months since the fatal “Rust” shooting, which resulted in cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ death, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office has received the full forensic report from the FBI.

According to a press release, the Santa Fe Sheriffs’ detectives received the FBI’s completed forensic reports on Aug. 2. They were then forwarded to the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator (OMI) “for review.”

“The OMI had advised the Sheriff’s Office that they required these forensic reports to finalize their investigation,” the release reads. The sheriff’s office received the “official OMI reports” on Wednesday.

Per the release, detectives with the homicide and computer crimes unit at the Suffolk County Police Department in New York are still actively assisting the Santa Fe Sheriffs’ office in obtaining and processing Alec Baldwin’s phone records.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office received the FBI’s full forensic report on the Alec Baldwin “Rust” shooting.
(Getty Images)

“The District Attorney’s office has been working with Suffolk County PD, and Baldwin’s lawyer to acquire the phone records,” Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said. “Once Suffolk County PD completes its agency assist and sends those records to New Mexico law enforcement, our detectives will need to then thoroughly review those phone records for evidentiary purposes.”

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Once the phone records are obtained, as well as the official OMI and forensic reports are reviewed, the Santa Fe Sheriff’s investigative case will be sent to the district attorney for review and ultimately final charging decisions.

In March, Baldwin addressed the “Rust” shooting during a film festival and shared that he was “hopeful” that he wouldn’t face any criminal charges.

Alec Baldwin addressed the “Rust” tragedy during a film festival panel in Boulder, Colorado, in March.
(Jim Spellman/Getty Images)

During an interview at the Boulder International Film Festival, festival special event programmer and panel moderator Ron Bostwick opened the floor to Baldwin, 64.

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Baldwin spoke about how there were “two victims,” while also seemingly suggesting there are some people who have filed suits who are “financially motivated” and are going after “deep pockets litigants,” The Hollywood Reporter reported.

“From the beginning, from the moment this happened, everybody has put out — besides all the anguish and the suffering, horrible feelings we have and, of course, there are two victims and nobody else is a victim, so to speak — we have dealt with a situation where specific people are not as interested in finding out what really happened,” Baldwin said, according to THR.

This aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M., on Oct. 23, 2021. Actor Alec Baldwin was holding a gun on the set of a Western being filmed at the ranch on Oct. 21; the gun discharged a live projectile, killing the cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins.
(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong | Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie)

“I’m very hopeful when the facts come out we will not be held criminally responsible, but it has changed my life. And I don’t mean this in the ordinary sense that I was involved in something or somebody passed,” he said. “I mean, I was involved in a situation with somebody was killed. It’s changed my life just in terms of the function of weapons in films and television.”

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The actor was holding a gun that discharged on a New Mexico movie set on Oct. 21, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza. Baldwin continues to maintain his innocence and said in a televised interview he did not pull the trigger.

His statements have angered Hutchins’ husband, Matthew, who has since filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Baldwin. In addition to Matthew Hutchins, a handful of “Rust” crew members have filed lawsuits against Baldwin and the “Rust” production.

Baldwin has previously shared that he is “hopeful” he won’t face criminal charges in the “Rust” tragedy.
(Dimitrios Kambouris)

“The idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me,” Matthew Hutchins told NBC News’ “Today” co-anchor Hoda Kotb during an interview in February.

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“But gun safety was not the only problem on that set,” Hutchins added. “There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there’s multiple responsible parties.”