Baldwin had the gun while rehearsing a scene for the western at Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico in October when he was shot, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza. In December, Baldwin told ABC News that he never pulled the trigger of the gun that shot Hutchins. “The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger,” Baldwin said. Baldwin, in that interview, also described cocking the gun as he spoke on stage with Hutchins. “So then I said to her, ‘Now in this scene, I’m going to go to the gun.’ And I said, “Do you want to see it?” And she said, “Yes.” So I take the gun and start raising the gun. I’m not going to pull the trigger.” Cocking a revolver pistol like the one used on the movie set involves pulling the gun’s hammer back to prepare the gun to fire. When the gun’s hammer is released forward with enough force — such as when the trigger is pulled — it strikes the primer of a round of ammunition, causing the gun to fire. The FBI’s forensic report was turned over to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office as part of the ongoing investigation into the fatal shooting on set. The report found that the weapon, a .45 Colt (.45 Long Colt) F.lli Pietta single-action revolver, “could not fire without pulling the trigger” with the hammer cocked at 1/4 and 1/2 seats. He also found that when the weapon was fully cocked, it “could not be fired without the trigger being pulled while the functional internals were intact and functional.” FBI investigators noted an internal malfunction of the weapon during testing in the fully cocked position, with the report noting “portions of the trigger break and cylinder detent broke while the hammer was cocked.” The FBI report noted the limitations of forensic testing, saying it “may not be possible to recreate or reproduce all of the circumstances that led to the discharge of a firearm without the pull of a trigger.” CNN has reached out to a representative for Baldwin for comment. An attorney representing Hannah Gutierrez Reed, who served as a gunman and prop assistant in the film, said the forensic report said “Baldwin should have pulled the trigger to fire the revolver” and that the 24-year-old was used as a “passenger goat.” Part of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s investigation is focused on how a live ammunition round may have reached the movie set. In April, Rust Movie Productions, LLC was fined nearly $137,000 and was cited for having a culture of “plain disregard for worker safety” on set, according to a report from the Department of Environment’s Office of Occupational Health & Safety in New York. of Mexico.
