17 Dec 2021

Rust shooting: Search warrant for Alec Baldwin's phone obtained

4:04 pm on 17 December 2021

Police investigating the fatal shooting on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust have obtained a search warrant for the actor's phone.

PARK CITY, UTAH - JANUARY 23: Alec Baldwin attends Sundance Institute's 'An Artist at the Table Presented by IMDbPro' at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival on January 23, 2020 in Park City, Utah.   Rich Polk/Getty Images for IMDb/AFP

US actor Alec Baldwin Photo: AFP

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins died and director Joel Souza was injured in October, when Baldwin was practising drawing a prop gun.

63-year-old Baldwin has insisted he "didn't pull the trigger".

The warrant was issued by a Sante Fe court in New Mexico - the state where Rust was being filmed.

It says "there may be evidence on the phone" that could be "material and relevant to this investigation".

Investigators asked to confiscate Baldwin's Apple iPhone that is "believed to be in his possession".

They wanted to look at text messages, emails, web browser history and other information stored on the phone.

It comes two weeks after the star gave his first TV interview about the incident, in which he said he did not pull the trigger, but the gun went off anyway.

"I would never point a gun at anyone and pull a trigger at them. Never," he told ABC News.

Baldwin said he had been told "it's highly unlikely that I would be charged with anything criminally".

The actor said he is fully co-operating with the police investigation into the shooting.

No criminal charges have been brought against anyone.

A lawsuit against Baldwin alleges that a film script did not require him to fire a gun when he fatally shot Hutchins.

Lawyers handling the suit described the behaviour of Baldwin and the film's producers as "reckless", and accused them of failing to follow safety protocols.

- BBC

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