Courtesy of Pam Martens
Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza, Speaking at Press Conference October 27, 2021, Reveals a Live Bullet from a Colt .45 Killed Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens
Alec Baldwin
Reuters reported on Wednesday that Alec Baldwin and other producers of the low-budget western film, “Rust,” have hired the high-priced law firm, Jenner & Block, to investigate the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a rehearsal on the set.
The producers circulated a memo to the movie crew about the hiring of Jenner & Block the night before the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department was scheduled to hold a press conference and announce its current findings. (See YouTube video below for the full press conference.)
During that press conference, Sheriff Adan Mendoza revealed that a real gun, a Colt .45 revolver, was being used by Alec Baldwin at the time of the shooting. Mendoza said the gun had fired a live single round that killed Hutchins and then the bullet embedded itself into the shoulder of Director Joel Souza. (Souza was injured but survived.)
Mendoza said that the Sheriff’s office has the spent shell casing that was fired from the gun and “the actual lead projectile that was fired has been recovered from the shoulder of Mr. Souza.” The lead projectile was turned over to the Sheriff’s office directly by the medical personnel who removed it from Souza’s shoulder, the Sheriff said. Mendoza added that “We have recovered what we believe to be possible additional live rounds on set.”
