Alec Baldwin denies search-warrant claim that ‘he requested a bigger gun’
Alec Baldwin has denied the claim in a search warrant for his cellphone that he asked for a bigger handgun before he fatally shot the cinematographer on the set of his Western flick “Rust.”
“This, in fact is a lie. The choices regarding any props by me for the film RUST were made weeks before production began,” the 63-year-old actor and producer wrote on the official Hilaria and Alec Baldwin Foundation Twitter account, the Daily Mail reported.
“To suggest that any changes were made ‘before fatal shooting is false,” added Baldwin, who linked a Newsweek article about an affidavit from Detective Alexandria Hancock that was included in the search warrant.
Authorities in Santa Fe, New Mexico, issued the warrant for his phone Thursday as part of the probe into the death of Halyna Hutchins in October. Investigators believe there are key conversations on the device related to what led to her death.
Baldwin previously told authorities they would need to get a warrant, according to the document, which was obtained by The Post.
The actor and the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, emailed back and forth about the type of gun to use in the scene, and “he said he requested a bigger gun,” according to the search warrant affidavit. He chose a “period” Colt with a brown handle.
Gutierrez-Reed told investigators she checked the gun following the shooting.
“She checked the cartridge which would have been the one fired and said the first one she pulled out didn’t have ‘that’ (pointing to the projectile end of a bullet),” according to the warrant. The other rounds in the chamber were dummy rounds.
Earlier this month, Baldwin told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos he “didn’t pull the trigger.” He also claimed that someone else, not he, put the live round in the gun.
