‘Rust’ Armorer’s Lawyers Believe Scene Was ‘Tampered With’ Before Police Arrived

The lawyers for “Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said on Wednesday that in addition to the unsubstantiated claim of “sabotage” on set of the film, they also believe the scene may have been tampered with before police arrived in the wake of the shooting.

Attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement that Gutierrez-Reed and her lawyers met with the Santa Fe County Deputy Sheriffs on Tuesday to give a full interview, and they further suggested that “information is coming out that needs to be fully investigated and considered” by the district attorney.

Bowles did not provide any additional information as to the “sabotage” claim about how live rounds arrived on set, about their claim that Gutierrez-Reed is being “framed” or what evidence they have to believe the scene was tampered with.

“We eagerly await the FBI’s investigation as well and we are asking for a full and complete investigation of all of the facts,” Bowles wrote. “The truth finding process demands that the District Attorney and FBI run down all of the evidence, including the nature of those live rounds. This morning we offered to share additional, critical information with the Sheriff’s Office and are awaiting their response on the sharing of information.”

Reps for the producers on “Rust” did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.

The cinematographer on “Rust” Halyna Hutchins was killed on Oct. 21 when a live round was fired from a gun discharged by actor Alec Baldwin, also injuring the film’s director Joel Souza. An investigation has been ongoing and no criminal charges have been filed.

In a prior statement from last week, Gutierrez-Reed denied having any knowledge of how live rounds appeared on the film’s set and said that she was “incredibly safety conscious and took her job very seriously,” including doing firearms training for Baldwin and fighting with producers for more training days.

That same day last week, Gutierrez Reed’s attorneys Bowles and Robert Gorence said on “Today” that she loaded the gun that killed Halyna Hutchins from a box labeled “dummy rounds” and that she inspected the rounds. They said what remains unknown is how a live round wound up in a “dummy” box, and they suggested that the round was put into the box deliberately by someone seeking to sabotage the production. However, those claims have not been verified.

“The person who put the live round in that box had to have the purpose of sabotaging this set, there’s no other reason you would do that,” Bowles said. “I believe that somebody who would do that would want to sabotage the set, want to prove a point, want to say that they’re disgruntled, they’re unhappy. And we know that people had walked off the set the day before.”

Bowles was referring to a walkout by the film’s camera crew hours before Hutchins’ death to protest what they said were poor working conditions. Among their complaints were long hours on set, what they said were quick turnaround times, inadequate housing and the need to travel a far distance to set from their provided hotels. Some people also reportedly slept in their vehicles because of the distance from set to their lodging.

Read Bowles’ full statement from Wednesday below: