The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has said in a forensics report that the revolver handled by actor Alec Baldwin in the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the "Rust" film set would not have discharged without its trigger being pulled. According to The Washington Post, the report has been sent to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, which is handling the investigation. The incident took place in October 2021 during the film shooting in New Mexico. Mr Baldwin's layer has called FBI's findings are being "misconstrued".
For months, the actor has maintained that he did not pull the trigger that fatally shot a crew member. The director of the film was injured in the incident.
"The trigger wasn't pulled. I didn't pull the trigger," Mr Baldwin had told ABC News two months after the incident, adding that he felt "that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me."
But FBI said in its report that the .45-caliber Long Colt F.lli Pietta single-action revolver that Mr Baldwin was holding includes quarter- and half-cock safeties, "which are intended to prevent slippage of the hammer during cocking and the release of the hammer by a normal pull of the trigger", according to the Post.
The agency tested the weapon in two positions and found that it "could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger. When enough pressure was applied to the trigger, each of these safety positions were overcome and the hammer fell," the outlet further said in its report citing excerpts from FBI report.
The report noted that "when an accidental discharge examination is performed, it may not be possible to recreate or duplicate all of the circumstances which led to the discharge of a firearm without a pull of the trigger."
Mr Baldwin's lawyer, however, said that the gun in question was in "poor condition".
"The gun fired in testing only one time - without having to pull the trigger - when the hammer was pulled back and the gun broke in two different places. The FBI was unable to fire the gun in any prior test, even when pulling the trigger, because it was in such poor condition," lawyer Like Nikas said.
The investigation into the shooting is ongoing, and so far no one has been charged with any wrongdoing, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office. The shooting was called an accident by the New Mexico's Office of the Medical Investigator, and the report was made public on Monday.
