'Rust' armorer's attorney suggests sabotage may have led to fatal on-set shooting

An attorney for the armorer on the movie set where actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer said Wednesday that he believes someone might have been trying to sabotage the set by putting a live round in a box of dummy ammunition.

“How did a live round get on set, and who put that live round on the set?” Jason Bowles, an attorney for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, asked on NBC’s “TODAY” show.

“There was a box of dummy rounds labeled ‘dummy,'” Bowles said. “We don’t know whether the live round came from that box. We’re assuming somebody put the live round in that box.”

The attorney did not provide evidence to support his theory, but Bowles floated a possible motive.

Members of the crew had walked off the set the day before the fatal incident. Bowles said a working theory is that somebody who would “want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy” may have put a live round or live rounds in the box of blanks. Bowles didn’t mention that the crew members who quit did so over what they said were lacking safety measures.

Lane Luper, the A-camera first assistant, had resigned the day before the shooting, saying in a resignation email that safety procedures were “fast and loose” when filming gunfights for the movie. Luper said there had been two accidental weapons discharges on set.

Several other crew members had also walked off the set over safety concerns, including the misfires of the prop gun, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News.

Halyna Hutchins, director of photography, died in the on-set shooting, and director Joel Souza was injured.

The circumstances of the shooting in New Mexico are under investigation, and no charges have been filed.

source: nbcnews.com