In the promotional previews for this ABC network special, Alec Baldwin claimed that he had not pointed at anyone or pulled the trigger, but in the full conversation he explains how it was then possible for the gun to go off and hit his coworker.
According to his testimony, Halyna Hutchins wanted to record a shot in which he was seen drawing the revolver and cocking it, that is, pulling the hammer back, although without actually lowering it completely so that the weapon was ready to fire. To his surprise, when he released the hammer to return it to its original position, he heard a shot.
“It is assumed that the pistol was empty, that it was not loaded with anything,” he clarified to deny the rumors that claimed that a real bullet had slipped between the blank or that the deceased was close enough so that even prop ammunition will be fatal.
In the first moment, Baldwin thought Halyna had passed out when he saw her collapse and it took 45 minutes to an hour before he realized she hadn’t had a heart attack or anything like that. It was the police officers who explained to him that Halyna had been hit by a bullet, as was the film’s director, Joel Souza, who survived his injuries.
“Those images come to mind, they keep me awake at night and I haven’t slept in weeks,” says Alec Baldwin.