It is "too early" to raise criminal charges, but they are not excluded, including against actor Alec Baldwin.

Six days after the accidental shooting that fatally injured a cinematographer on the set of a western, authorities in Sante Fe, New Mexico, provided an update on the investigation on Wednesday.

"It was he (Baldwin) who operated the weapon," said Santa Fe prosecutor Mary Carmack-Altwies at a press conference.

“All options are on the table at this stage” and “no one is excluded” regarding possible lawsuits, she said.

500 ammunition found

Searches carried out at the Bonanza Creek ranch, New Mexico, where Halyna Hutchins was killed on October 21, resulted in the seizure of 500 ammunition, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said. It appears to be a mix of dummy, blank and real bullets. A cartridge case was found, and a lead projectile, in all likelihood that of the fatal bullet, was recovered from the victim's torso.

"We're going to determine how (this live ammunition) got on set, why it was there, because it shouldn't have been there," the sheriff said.

The specialist site The Wrap claims, citing sources close to the filming, that some members of the team had used the revolver in question to fire live ammunition at cans of beer just hours before the accident.

The very strict recommendations of the film industry with regard to firearms prohibit the presence of live ammunition on set, precisely to prevent this type of accident.

Certain civil proceedings

Alec Baldwin was handed the lethal weapon by an assistant director, Dave Halls, who according to several witnesses had announced that the weapon was "cold", which means in cinema jargon that the gun is empty and harmless. According to the

LA Times

, Dave Halls was fired from a previous shoot after a gun-related incident. Other protagonists of the drama could also be singled out in a complaint, including the armourer of the set, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, who had little experience, at just 24 years old.

If criminal charges remain uncertain, the family of Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza, injured by the shooting, will likely initiate civil proceedings to obtain compensation. These complaints would target the production company, Alec Baldwin and other producers individually and "anyone who has come into contact with the gun directly or indirectly," predicts Bryan Sullivan, legal counsel interviewed by AFP. “I expect everyone to be sued” in civil, he said. Alec Baldwin would be mainly targeted for his financial base and his reputation, according to the expert.

Neal Zoromski, a renowned props chief, told the

LA Times

that he refused to work on

Rust

, saying the production was looking to cut costs at the expense of safety.

He claims in particular that the producers refused to hire two people - a props assistant and a gunsmith - considering that one was enough, and that the preparation period, which usually lasts several weeks for the actors to familiarize themselves with the weapons. , had here been reduced to a minimum.

He declined the offer, saying the shoot was "a time bomb".

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