Actor Alec Baldwin has said he did not pull the trigger of a gun that fatally shot a crew member during a filming in New Mexico. New forensic evidence may tell a different story, NPR reports. The FBI told the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office that the weapon, meant to be a prop, could not be fired without pulling the trigger. Baldwin's lawyer called the FBI's findings "misconstrued," adding that the gun in question was in "poor condition." The incident took place in October, while Baldwin was rehearsing a scene on Santa Fe's outskirts for a Western movie, Rust. The actor was practicing how to draw a revolver and point it at the camera. When the gun fired, a bullet killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured the movie's director, Joel Souza.
The state medical examiner ruled her death an accident. Baldwin told ABC New last winter, "I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never. Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me." Hutchins' family has filed a wrongful death suit against Baldwin and the production company. Others who were on set, including the film's script supervisor, the lead camera operator and the production's medic, have filed lawsuits over the trauma they went through. Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who was in charge of firearms, has sued an ammunition supplier for including live rounds in an ammunition box that allegedly was meant to include only prop ones. Baldwin's lawyers have filed an arbitration against the production company, arguing that the actor's contract includes language that protects him from any costs or claims against him. The FBI report said the gun in question "could not be made to fire without a pull of the trigger" while the hammer was cocked at the one-fourth and half positions.