Her lawyers said Thursday that the maker of the film where actor Alec Baldwin shot a cinematographer last week “has no idea where any live ammunition came from.”
“Totally devastated and completely beside her by the events that occurred,” said a statement issued by her lawyer, Rust, arms maker Hana Gutierrez Reid.
Director of Photography Helena Hutchins was killed in the shooting last week, and director Joel Souza was injured.
The circumstances of the New Mexico shooting are still under investigation, and no charges have been filed.
A statement from her attorney said, “Safety is Hana’s number one priority. Ultimately, this group would not have been compromised if live ammunition had not been provided. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from.”
Court documents relating to the search warrant say Assistant Director David Holz shouted “cold gun,” indicating no live ammunition, as he handed the firearm to Baldwin before the shooting.
Holes told authorities he should have checked the gun more carefully after noticing a difference in ammunition rounds, according to a search warrant.
Halls did not immediately respond to a request for comment late Thursday.
Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys, Jason Bowles and Robert Gornes, said the guns were withheld at night and during lunch and that the gunsmith sought more training for the film.
“Hana was assigned two jobs on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as a weapons manufacturer,” the statement read.
She said, “I fought for training, days to maintain weapons, and time to prepare to shoot, but in the end it was negated by the production and production department. The entire production batch became unsafe due to various factors, including the lack of safety meetings.”
The film’s producers and Rust Movies Productions LLC did not immediately respond to requests for comment late Thursday.
The shooting took place at the Bonanza Creek farm in Santa Fe County, which is often used for western production.
Sources told NBC News that the backup gun had failed before. In a statement Thursday, Gutierrez Reid’s lawyers cited an “accidental release” of a weapon, saying Gutierrez Reid was never in his possession.
“The first one on this set was the prop master and the second one was a stuntman after Hannah informed him that his rifle was full of blanks,” the statement said.
Authorities said this week that the “main projectile” that killed Hutchins and wounded Souza has been recovered. It was found in Souza’s shoulder.
Adan Mendoza, Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, described what was fired as a “suspected live shot.”
About 500 rounds were taken from the kit as part of the investigation, including blank rounds, dummy rounds and what Sharif described as suspected live ammunition.
“There was some satisfaction with this group,” he said Wednesday.
