The "Rust" armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, loaded the gun with what she thought were dummy rounds before Alec Baldwin used it on set, fatally shooting the movie's cinematographer, lawyers for the armorer said in an interview."There was a box of dummy rounds and the box is labeled dummy. Hannah did take from that box which she by all accounts should have been able to rely on, that contains only dummy rounds," said Gutierrez Reed's lawyer Jason Bowles. "She loaded rounds from that box into the handgun only to later find out -- and she had no idea -- she inspected the rounds, that there was a live round. Now we don't know, however, whether that live round came from that box. We're assuming it did. We're assuming somebody put the live round in that box, which if you think about that, the person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging this set. There's no other reason you would do that."Bowles said, "I think... you can't rule anybody out at this point. because we know a couple of facts: We know there was a live round in a box of dummy rounds that shouldn't have been there, at least one live round. We had people who had left the set, who had walked out because they were disgruntled. We have a timeframe between 11 and one approximately that day in which the firearms at times were unattended. So there was opportunity to tamper with this scene."Another lawyer for Gutierrez Reed, Robert Gorence, said the prop truck "was completely unattended at all times," leaving "access and opportunity" to access the ammunition."The tray was outside the church for over two hours unattended after she had prepped that for what was going to be an afternoon filming session outside of the church," Gorence told NBC.Her lawyers said that Gutierrez Reed was in the church at the time of the shooting because the gathering was just supposed to be technical preparation, which would not require her presence.Gutierrez Reed was the armorer as well as key props assistant on the film. She handed the weapon discharged by Baldwin to assistant director David Halls, according to her attorneys.Bowles said the armorer spun the chamber of the gun for Halls."She did show him each and every round in that chamber, which there was six. There were six dummy rounds, she believed, to be in that handgun," he said. "She spun it and showed it on to Mr. Halls and at that time she gave custody of it."Bowles contends that dummy rounds look like live rounds.An attorney representing Halls said it was not Halls' responsibility to confirm whether the gun handed to Baldwin was loaded, despite Halls previously acknowledging to investigators that he should have checked all the rounds before declaring the firearm safe."He's not responsible for checking it," attorney Lisa Torraco said in an interview on Fox News on Monday. "That's not the assistant director's job. If he chooses to check the firearm because he wants to make sure that everyone's safe, he can do that, but that's not his responsibility."Lawyers for Gutierrez Reed said she is devastated and heartbroken by the tragedy and cooperating with the investigation.CNN is seeking comment from the "Rust" production company and the sheriff's department regarding the lawyers' interview.
The "Rust" armorer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, loaded the gun with what she thought were dummy rounds before Alec Baldwin used it on set, fatally shooting the movie's cinematographer, lawyers for the armorer said in an interview.
"There was a box of dummy rounds and the box is labeled dummy. Hannah did take from that box which she by all accounts should have been able to rely on, that contains only dummy rounds," said Gutierrez Reed's lawyer Jason Bowles. "She loaded rounds from that box into the handgun only to later find out -- and she had no idea -- she inspected the rounds, that there was a live round. Now we don't know, however, whether that live round came from that box. We're assuming it did. We're assuming somebody put the live round in that box, which if you think about that, the person who put the live round in the box of dummy rounds had to have the purpose of sabotaging this set. There's no other reason you would do that."
Bowles said, "I think... you can't rule anybody out at this point. because we know a couple of facts: We know there was a live round in a box of dummy rounds that shouldn't have been there, at least one live round. We had people who had left the set, who had walked out because they were disgruntled. We have a timeframe between 11 and one approximately that day in which the firearms at times were unattended. So there was opportunity to tamper with this scene."
Another lawyer for Gutierrez Reed, Robert Gorence, said the prop truck "was completely unattended at all times," leaving "access and opportunity" to access the ammunition.
"The tray was outside the church for over two hours unattended after she had prepped that for what was going to be an afternoon filming session outside of the church," Gorence told NBC.
Her lawyers said that Gutierrez Reed was in the church at the time of the shooting because the gathering was just supposed to be technical preparation, which would not require her presence.
Gutierrez Reed was the armorer as well as key props assistant on the film. She handed the weapon discharged by Baldwin to assistant director David Halls, according to her attorneys.
Bowles said the armorer spun the chamber of the gun for Halls.
"She did show him each and every round in that chamber, which there was six. There were six dummy rounds, she believed, to be in that handgun," he said. "She spun it and showed it on to Mr. Halls and at that time she gave custody of it."
Bowles contends that dummy rounds look like live rounds.
An attorney representing Halls said it was not Halls' responsibility to confirm whether the gun handed to Baldwin was loaded, despite Halls previously acknowledging to investigators that he should have checked all the rounds before declaring the firearm safe.
"He's not responsible for checking it," attorney Lisa Torraco said in an interview on Fox News on Monday. "That's not the assistant director's job. If he chooses to check the firearm because he wants to make sure that everyone's safe, he can do that, but that's not his responsibility."
Lawyers for Gutierrez Reed said she is devastated and heartbroken by the tragedy and cooperating with the investigation.
CNN is seeking comment from the "Rust" production company and the sheriff's department regarding the lawyers' interview.
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