LAW

After the 'Rust' movie set shooting, investigators look into the ammo supplier

December 1, 2021 5:59 AM ET
JACLYN DIAZ

Authorities in Santa Fe, N.M., are pursuing a new lead in the October Rust film shooting that left one cinematographer dead and the movie's director injured.

According to documents shared by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office, investigators executed a search warrant on Tuesday for an Albuquerque-based ammunitions supplier.

Previously, Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza said in October that about 500 rounds of ammunition were found on the set: a mix of blanks, dummy rounds and what investigators believed at the time to be additional live rounds.

Officers are still trying to find out how a live bullet, rather than a blank, was used on set. The search warrant issued Tuesday was a part of that investigation.

On the day of the shooting, actor Alec Baldwin was handling the prop gun during a scene rehearsal when it went off — striking the film's director, Joel Souza, and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. Hutchins later died of her injuries. Baldwin was told by the crew at the time that the gun was safe to use and wasn't loaded with live rounds.

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Investigators closing in on possible explanation of how live ammunition ended up in a revolver fired by Alec Baldwin in a fatal shooting on the set of the film “Rust” More from
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U.S.

Investigators Authorized to Search Weapons Supplier in Alec Baldwin ‘Rust’ Film Fatal Shooting

New affidavit describes how reloaded ammunition or live bullets from practice may have ended up on set

By Dan Frosch and Katherine Sayre
https://twitter.com/djfroschWSJ
dan.frosch@wsj.com
https://twitter.com/katherinesayre
katherine.sayre@wsj.com
Updated Nov. 30, 2021 8:57 pm ET

A new affidavit released by authorities Tuesday offered the first possible explanations of how live ammunition ended up in a revolver fired by Alec Baldwin in a fatal shooting on the set of the film “Rust.”

A Santa Fe judge issued a warrant based on the affidavit which authorized law enforcement to search the office of a weapons supplier for the movie. A spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said detectives were executing the warrant later Tuesday.

The supplier, Seth Kenney, told investigators that reloaded ammunition, which are live rounds made by taking empty casings and installing a primer, gunpowder and a bullet, may have ended up on the set along with the dummy rounds and blanks he had provided, according to the search warrant affidavit signed by a detective with the sheriff’s office.

Mr. Kenney told investigators that the company whose ammunition components he used for the film, Starline Brass, didn’t sell live rounds, but that he had previously received from an unnamed friend reloaded ammunition that had the company’s logo on it, according to the affidavit. It was unclear from the affidavit if these were the same rounds that ended up on set.

Mr. Kenney didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

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—Ben Kesling contributed to this article.

Write to Dan Frosch at dan.frosch@wsj.com and Katherine Sayre at katherine.sayre@wsj.com