NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — Alec Baldwin spoke publicly Saturday for the first time since the deadly on-set "Rust" shooting, addressing a group of photographers who had been trailing him on a highway in Vermont.
Baldwin was traveling with his wife Hilaria, and agreed to stop and address the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his film in New Mexico on October 21, as long as the photographers gave him some space.
"I'm not allowed to make any comments because it's an ongoing investigation," Baldwin said. "I've been ordered by the Sheriff's Department in Santa Fe. I can't answer any questions about the investigation. I can't."
Speaking about Hutchins, 42, he said, "It's an active investigation in terms of a woman died, she was my friend ... The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting, I took her to dinner with Joel (Souza), the director."
Souza was also wounded in the shoulder and is recovering.
See video of Alec Baldwin making his first public comments HERE
"We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened," Baldwin said.
Baldwin described the shooting as a "one in a trillion event."
"There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this," he said. "This is a one in a trillion episode. It's a one in a trillion event."
He also said that he "extremely interested" in limiting the use of firearms on film sets.
"But remember, how many bullets have been fired in films and TV shows in the last 75 years. This is America," Baldwin said. "How many bullets have gone off in movies and on TV sets before? How many, billions in the last 75 years? And nearly all of it without incident. So what has to happen now is, we have to realize that when it does go wrong and it's this horrible, catastrophic thing, some new measures have to take place. Rubber guns, plastic guns, no live — no real armaments on set."
But, he said, "That's not for me to decide. It's urgent that you understand I'm not an expert in this field, so whatever other people decide is the best way to go in terms of protecting people's safety on film sets, I'm all in favor of and I will cooperate with that in any way that I can."
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