The armourer in charge of weapons on the set of Alec Baldwin's movie Rust has claimed she has "no idea" where the live ammunition that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins came from.
Tragedy struck the set last week when a gun Baldwin was pointing at a camera accidentally discharged, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.
Denying media reports suggesting she may have some culpability for the fatal accident, the film's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed issued a statement via her lawyers that claimed she has "no idea" why there was live ammunition around the set.
"Safety is Hannah's number one priority on set," her attorneys Jason Bowles and Robert Gorence said in a statement released on her behalf. "Ultimately this set would never have been compromised if live ammo were not introduced. Hannah has no idea where the live rounds came from."
The lawyers went on to confirm there were two previous accidental discharges on set before the incident, but that their client was not directly involved.
"Hannah still, to this day, has never had an accidental discharge," the attorneys added. "The first one on this set was the prop master and the second one was a stunt man after Hannah informed him his gun was hot with blanks."
In their statement, they accused the film's producers of not heeding Gutierrez-Reed's requests for better training and safety measures.
"Hannah was hired on two positions on this film, which made it extremely difficult to focus on her job as an armorer," her legal team stated. "She fought for training, days to maintain weapons and proper time to prepare for gunfire but ultimately was overruled by production and her department. The whole production set became unsafe due to various factors, including lack of safety meetings."
Court documents state assistant director David Halls yelled "cold gun," indicating it contained no live rounds, as he handed the weapon to Baldwin before the accidental shooting. Halls also told police he should have made a more thorough check on the gun after noticing a difference in the ammunition rounds, according to an affidavit related to a search warrant.
Charges have yet to be filed and law enforcement officials continue their investigation.
