Podcast reveals 'Rust' armorer's feelings about previous job: 'I was really nervous'

More details about the "Rust" prop gun incident that resulted in the death of a cinematographer and injured the director are coming to light, including more information about the movie's armorer Hannah Gutierrez.

While rehearsing for the upcoming movie "Rust," Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun, which contained a live round, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her.

As a film crew and actors in Western garb prepared to rehearse a scene inside a wooden, chapel-like building on a desert movie ranch outside Santa Fe, New Mexico, assistant director Dave Halls stepped outside and grabbed a prop gun off a cart and handed it to Baldwin, assuring him it was safe to use because it didn’t have live ammo.

“Cold gun,” Halls yelled. It wasn’t, according to court records made public Friday.

More: Alec Baldwin discharged prop gun containing a 'live single round' in fatal 'Rust' set incident

The gun was one of three that the film’s armorer, Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the building where a scene was being acted, according to court records.

Gutierrez has been an armorer on a big-budget film production before. In a resurfaced podcast episode that was published last month she talked about wrapping up on the set of upcoming film "The Old Way" starring Nicolas Cage — a film she said was her first time as "head armorer."

"I was really nervous about it at first," she said. "I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready but doing it, it went really smoothly."

Alec Baldwin speaks on the phone in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office in Santa Fe, N.M., after he was questioned about a shooting on the set of the film "Rust" on the outskirts of Santa Fe, Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021. Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza, officials said.

She said in the podcast she got a lot of her gun knowledge from her dad Thell Reed, who was a quick-draw exhibition shooter and gun coach for stars. Reed worked on films such as "Tombstone" and "The Quick," according to his IMDB profile. She said in the podcast that grew up around guns her whole life, but her dad started formally teaching her at 16.

After the fatal shooting Gutierrez, according to court records, removed a shell casing from the gun and turned the weapon over to police when they arrived, the court records say. It was unclear how many rounds were fired.

Bonanza Creek Ranch: What we know about the set of Alec Baldwin's film 'Rust'

Halls did not immediately return phone and email messages seeking comment. The Associated Press was unable to contact Gutierrez, and several messages sent to production companies affiliated with the film were not immediately returned Friday.

Generally, a weapons master or armorer oversees all weapons that are used on a production. This can mean anything from selecting the correct items for a certain period in history, to taking care of the weapons on set and making sure they are being used safely and properly by actors and stunt people.

More: What is a prop gun and how can it kill someone? How the Alec Baldwin tragedy was possible

Those less familiar with the lingo used in Hollywood may not have previously heard of prop guns. A prop gun or prop firearm can mean several different things. The term can refer to fake guns but also real weapons that are being used as props.

Prop guns have been previously implicated in deaths on entertainment productions.

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the martial-arts star Bruce Lee, was accidentally shot to death with a prop gun while filming the movie "The Crow.″ The gun was intended to have fired a blank, but an autopsy found a bullet lodged near his spine.

In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum, 26, died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette on the set of the TV series ″Cover Up.″

More: Prop gun death at Alec Baldwin film 'Rust' isn't the first accident on a movie set

Details of the shooting at the ranch on Bonanza Creek Road were included in a search warrant application filed by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Investigators were seeking to examine Baldwin’s blood-stained costume for the film “Rust,” as well as the weapon that was fired, other prop guns and ammunition, and any footage that might exist.

Baldwin spoke publicly for the first time Friday in a Twitter thread about the incident, writing he is "fully cooperating with the police."

"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours," he wrote.

'My heart is broken': Alec Baldwin says he's 'fully cooperating' after deadly prop gun incident

The film’s script supervisor, Mamie Mitchell, said she was standing next to Hutchins when she was shot.

“I ran out and called 911 and said ‘Bring everybody, send everybody,’ ” Mitchell told The Associated Press. “This woman is gone at the beginning of her career. She was an extraordinary, rare, very rare woman.”

Contributing: Elise Brisco, Charles Trepany, USA TODAY; The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Rust' death: Armorer recalls first time on job in resurfaced podcast