The armorer on the set ofRusttold authorities no live ammunition was kept on the set of the Western, but the Santa Fe County Sheriff said the statement was “not accurate.”
On Thursday morning, Sheriff Adan Mendoza appeared onTodaywhere he was asked if armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed’s statement of “no live ammo is ever kept on set,” according to a search warrant, was correct.
“No, obviously it isn’t,” Mendoza said. “That was a live round that struck and killed Ms. Hutchins so that’s not an accurate statement as far as I’m concerned.”
Last Thursday, authorities confirmed the film’s star, Alec Baldwin, fatally struck cinematographer Halyna Hutchins witha real lead bulleton the New Mexico set of the film while rehearsing for scene with a gun. The bullet also hit director Joel Souza and was recovered from his shoulder.
Mendoza toldToday, “The focus of the investigation is how the live rounds got there, who brought them there and why they were there. As far as if it’s going to rise to the point of negligence or the point of criminal charges, we’re hoping to work with the district attorney in reference to that.”
He added, “The information that we got in the industry is that there should be no live rounds no set.”
At apress conference Wednesday, Mendoza said investigators discovered “500 rounds of ammunition” on the set, including, “a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what we are suspecting are live rounds.”
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office spokesperson Juan Rios confirmed to PEOPLE afterward that “live rounds” means “real bullets.”
It’s unclear where the bullets came from. Mendoza told reporters Wednesday he believed “there was some complacency on this set.”
Alec Baldwin; Halyna Hutchins.Jesse Grant/Getty; Anthony Harvey/Getty Images
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
According to asearch warrant affidavitfrom the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, assistant directorDave Hallshanded Baldwin a gun for a rehearsal, yelling “Cold Gun!” to indicate that it was not loaded and safe to handle. Baldwin then shot the Colt .45 revolver during the scene, hitting Hutchins and Souza.
Neither Halls nor Baldwin knew that the gun had live ammunition in it, according to the affidavit.
The investigation remains ongoing, withproduction on the film halted. No charges have been filed.
source: people.com
