Lawyer for Rust armorer suggests sabotage on set

LOS ANGELES — A lawyer for the armorer who oversaw weapons used on the Rust movie set suggested Wednesday that someone deliberately put a live round into the gun used by Alec Baldwin when he accidentally shot dead a cinematographer. Jason Bowles said his client, Hannah Gutierrez, had pulled ammunition from a box that she believed contained only dummy rounds that were incapable of firing. He said he thought it was possible that someone purposely placed real bullets, which look similar to dummies, into the box. “We’re afraid that could have been what happened here, that somebody intended to sabotage this set with a live round intentionally placed in a box of dummies,” Mr. Bowles said on ABC television’s Good Morning America. “We’re not saying anybody had any intent there was going to be a tragedy of homicide,” he added, “but they wanted to do something to cause a safety incident on set. That’s what we believe happened.” A spokeswoman for producers Rust Movie Productions had no comment on Mr. Bowles’ remarks. The company has said it is investigating the incident and had received no official complaints about safety on the set in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Local authorities are investigating the matter and no charges have been filed against anyone involved. — Reuters