The armorer's lawyers say she 'has no idea where the live rounds came from.'
One week after Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on the set of Rust, the film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, has broken her silence regarding the horrific tragedy.
"First Hannah would like to extend her deepest and most sincere condolences to the family and friends of Halyna. She was an inspirational woman in film who Hannah looked up to. She also offers her thoughts and prayers for a speedy recovery to Joel," Gutierrez-Reed's attorneys, Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence, said in a statement to ET on Friday. "Hannah is devastated and completely beside herself over the events that have transpired."
The statement goes on to "address some untruths that have been told to the media, which have falsely portrayed her and slandered her."
"Safety is Hannah’s number one priority on set," her lawyers state. "Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from. Hannah and the prop master gained control over the guns and she never witnessed anyone shoot live rounds with these guns and nor would she permit that. They were locked up every night and at lunch and there’s no way a single one of them was unaccounted for or being shot by crew members. Hannah still, to this day, has never had an accidental discharge. The first one on this set was the prop master and the second was a stunt man after Hannah informed him his gun was hot with blanks."
Her attorneys also say that Gutierrez-Reed was "hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer," but that she "fought for training, days to maintain weapons, and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department."
Her legal council further claim in the statement that the "whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings," and added that "this was not the fault of Hannah." They also noted that her legal team "will address more of these rumors and the whole incident in an upcoming statement next week."
Gutierrez-Reed's statement from her lawyers comes two days after Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza told media that they had "identified two other people that handled and or inspected the loaded gun prior to Baldwin firing the weapon,” naming her and Assistant Director David Halls. Mendoza confirmed that "all three individuals have been cooperative in the investigation and have provided statements."
The fatal shooting was reportedly not the first time the Rust set was unsafe. Multiple reports noted that ahead of the death of Hutchins and Souza's injury, union crew members had previously walked off set to protest "poor" working conditions. As noted in Gutierrez-Reed's statement, there was also another incident which included the misfiring of a gun.
As of Wednesday, Sheriff Mendoza said it was "too early" to discuss possible charges being filed. "The investigation will continue and if the sheriff's office determines during our investigation that a crime has occurred and probable cause exists, an arrest or arrests will be made and charges will be filed," he explained.
Earlier this week, a source told ET that Baldwin "is beside himself."
"He is incredibly devastated and sick to his stomach over what happened," the source added. "He is still processing everything and dealing with a lot of grief and shock."
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