The sheriff leading the investigation said Thursday that the investigation into the fatal shooting of Alec Baldwin may include interviews with more than 100 people — mainly focusing on how live bullets got into a movie set.
“The main questions we focus on during our investigation are how the live tours ended up, who brought them to the group and why they were on the group,” said the Santa Fe County Sheriff, condemning Mendoza. He said, “Good morning, America.” Host Robin Roberts.
“As far as we understand, live tours shouldn’t be in place…Everyone we spoke to knows that live tours shouldn’t be in place,” he said.
“Why they were there will be the main question,” he told Roberts, saying they “didn’t yet know fully how it happened.
“We have some preliminary data,” he said – while emphasizing that it will likely be a long process that can “widen” to include looking into complaints already raised about some of the work of key crew members in previous films.
“There were probably about 100 people in all, so interviews are going on,” he said of the New Mexico website where cinematographer Helena Hutchins, 42, died last Thursday.
“When we interview people, more information comes out, so it might turn out to be more interviews than just people on the scene,” Mendoza told GMA.
“We may delve into other safety issues in other groups, or other groups perhaps the work of the armor maker or any of the other employees. So this could continue… and it could expand.”
Al-Sharif reiterated his claim that there was a clear “complacency” on the part of the crew members responsible for ensuring the safety of the guns on the set.
He said: “Only the facts that have come to light so far during the interviews in the investigation, there was a complacency, and this is clear.”
“I think there was some chaos and some security issues and protocols that were not followed properly. But again, these are the issues that we will focus on in the investigation,” he told GMA.
So far, no charges have been brought about Hutchins’ death, and Mendoza confirmed Wednesday that Baldwin remains “an active part of this investigation.”
“Obviously he was the one who shot,” he told a news conference.
That could include accusations for the “The Shadow” star, Mary Carmack Altois, the Santa Fe district attorney, said.
“No one has been left out at this point,” she told the newspaper. “All options are on the table.”
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