Countdown to the possible fateful hour for actor Alec Baldwin (63).
On Wednesday, the investigators and the responsible public prosecutor’s office want to announce the status of the investigations after the fatal shot on the western set in Santa Fe (New Mexico) in a press conference that is awaited with great anticipation.
In the tragedy last Thursday, the picture director Halyna Hutchins († 42) was fatally hit. Baldwin had fired the shot.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins loved her job. She was accidentally shot by Alec Baldwin in the tragic accident on ThursdayPhoto: SONIA RECCHIA / AFP
At 10 a.m. local time (6 p.m. CEST), the two most important figures in the clarification of the horror will appear in front of the world press – after they have so far largely kept a low profile:
▶ ︎ Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza is leading the investigation.
Recently, his investigators were often seen driving pickups to the former location of the “Bonanza Creek Ranch”. They combed the location of the horrific shooting incident, heard eyewitnesses from the film crew, including the also injured director Joel Souza (48) – as well as the shooter Baldwin himself.
Sheriff Adan MendozaPhoto: santafecountynm.gov
Most recently, sheriff spokesman Juan Rios published a seven-page protocol of the nightmare on the film set: It described how the death revolver had been handed over. How a shot went off in the film church that sounded like a “crack of a whip” when Baldwin had practiced drawing a gun. How Hutchins was hit, stumbled back and said her last words, “I can’t feel my legs anymore.”
New, potentially explosive details are expected at the media event.
Is this accuser taking Baldwin to jail?
▶ ︎ Next to the sheriff will be Santa Fe District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies. It will ultimately be up to her to decide whether or not to bring a criminal charge against Baldwin.
Many legal experts, including celebrity lawyer Edward Hayes (73) opposite BILD, were of the last opinion that the film and TV star could be prosecuted for “negligent homicide”.
Prosecutor Mary Carmack-AltwiesPhoto: nmdas.com/JONATHAN TERCERO
More serious than the fact that he had fired the killing shot weighs Baldwin’s role as the producer of the cheap western: He would be responsible for the reported, shocking security breaches during the shoot, especially when handling weapons, it is argued.
Every word the public prosecutor said will be carefully analyzed during the press appearance. The key question: Is it preparing a possible charge – or is the death ultimately only assessed as a horrible accident by the public prosecutor?
So the eyes of the world are on Carmack-Altwies. The Democrat started her job in the Santa Fe public prosecutor’s office at the beginning of the year and is now in the international media spotlight. “This case is still at the preliminary investigation stage,” the former public defender had previously only vaguely said to the “Deadline” portal.
She went on to explain, “We support the sheriff’s office, but at this point we do not know whether a charge will be brought.”
A broken man: Alec Baldwin a few moments after the tragic accident on the film set of “Rust”Photo: Jim Weber / AP
More and more new details come to light
Before the press conference there are always new details about the drama: According to a report in the local newspaper “Santa Fe Reporter” (SFR), investigators have seized a “projectile” that got stuck in the shoulder of director Souza. It is most likely a bullet, even if the investigators have not yet – officially – wanted to confirm this.
The same projectile had apparently killed Hutchins.