Alec Baldwin Says ‘Someone’ Is Responsible For The Fatal Shooting On The Set Of ‘Rust,’ But ‘I Know It’s Not Me’

Alec Baldwin gave his first public interview on Thursday since the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western movie Rust. “Someone is responsible for what happened,” he told ABC News’ George Stephanopoulos. “And I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me.”

Baldwin claims that the film’s first assistant director, Dave Halls, handed him an antique Colt .45 revolver and told him, “This is a cold gun,” an industry term for a firearm that does not contain live rounds. “Now, what happened there, and why he made that statement, and what the realities were, I have, again, I have no idea,” the actor said (Halls’ lawyer “would not confirm” if her client was the one who handed Baldwin the gun).

Gun in hand, Baldwin said he and Hutchins began blocking out the scene. She was directing his every move: “Everything is at her direction… This was a marking rehearsal. And [Hutchins] says to me, ‘Hold the gun lower. Go to your right. Okay, right there. All right, do that. Now show it a little bit lower.’ And she’s getting me to position the gun… She’s guiding me through how she wants me to hold the gun for this angle. I’m holding the gun where she told me to hold it, which ended up being aimed right below her armpit.”

Baldwin is adamant that he “didn’t pull the trigger.” Instead, he asserts he “let go of the hammer of the gun, the gun goes off… I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them.” His first thought when he saw Hutchins hit the ground was, “Did she faint?” It took 45 minutes to “dawn” on him that there was a live round in the gun.

Later in the interview, Baldwin was asked about comments made by George Clooney, who told Marc Maron that it would be “insane” for someone to not check a prop gun for live rounds. “There were a lot of people who felt it necessary to contribute some comment to the situation, which really didn’t help the situation at all. If your protocol is you checking the gun every time, well, good for you. Good for you,” he said, adding, “My protocol was to trust the person that had the job. And it worked up until this point.”

Baldwin’s interview with Stephanopoulos will be available on Hulu.

(Via ABC News)