Sharon Waxman, who is the founder and CEO of The Wrap, said that the Crew members on the set of “Rust” used to spend time by doing “plinking” with involves live ammunition and the guns were actually used hours before Halyna Hutchins died. He said that he got this information from an individual who had all the knowledge of the set.
The Wrap also reported that one of the guns that were used by the crew, was later given to the actor, Alec Baldwin, who later fired the shot which killed Hutchin and injured director Joel Souza.
“There’s this pastime that crew members sometimes do, it’s called ‘plinking,’ and they go out into the rural areas and they shoot at beer cans. This is with live ammunition. We learned that this happened the morning of the day that Halyna Hutchins was killed,” Waxman said.
Waxman told CNN that “plinking” is common when there’s downtime during a shoot.
When asked by The Wrap for comment on this reporting, “Rust” producers referred back to their previous statement sent to media outlets, including CNN: “The safety of our cast and crew is the top priority of Rust Productions and everyone associated with the company. Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down. We will continue to cooperate with the Santa Fe authorities in their investigation and offer mental health services to the cast and crew during this tragic time.”
On Saturday, October 23, 2021, this aerial photo shows the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The incident occurred on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to an affidavit for a search warrant, Souza, who was injured in the shoulder, told investigators the prop gun went off as Baldwin was practicing drawing his gun.
According to an affidavit released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office on Sunday, Souza spoke with investigators on Friday.
Souza told them Baldwin was “sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw,” the affidavit said. When a shooter pulls a weapon from a holster on the opposite side of the body from the draw hand, it is known as a cross draw.
According to the affidavit, Souza was looking over Hutchins’ shoulder “when he heard what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop.”