Alec Baldwin's interview footage after fatal shooting on "Rust" set released; actor narrates incident [details]

Alec Baldwin's deadly shooting incident on the sets of "Rust" has kept the Hollywood actor in the headlines for months. In the shocking incident, Baldwin fired a gun at while rehearsing a scene in New Mexico in October, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

On Wednesday, the New Mexico's Occupational Health and Safety Bureau released the findings of its six-month investigation. The Santa Fe County sheriff's office has now released interview footage from the early investigations, one of which shows Baldwin narrating the incident hours after the shooting. In the video, the investigating officers can be seen talking to Baldwin, who goes on to describe what happened and expressed shock at someone putting a live round in the prop gun.

"I can only say this, which is, to me, to place a bullet that is a live round to make sure that the bullet is in the chamber - if I were to squeeze the trigger in a rehearsal the bullet came out. Someone has to have extraordinary access to that weaponry to do that," the 64-year-old actor can be heard saying in the video.

In the interview, Baldwin questioned if the armourer Hannah Gutierrez mixed up the live rounds with theatrical rounds in the kit.

"A very important question for armourer Hannah Gutierrez is have you ever co-mingled live rounds with the theatrical rounds in your kit? Because they're forbidden to do that, according to I think the union rules and the safety rules," he said.

Alec claims probe "exonerates" him

Baldwin believes he has been cleared following an investigation into the accidental shooting on the set of 'Rust'. "We are grateful to the New Mexico Occupational Health and Safety Bureau for investigating this matter," a lawyer for Alec said in a statement released via the actor's Instagram account. "We appreciate that the report exonerates Mr. Baldwin by making clear that he believed the gun held only dummy rounds."

"Additionally, the report recognizes that Mr. Baldwin's authority on the production was limited to approving script changes and creative casting," the lawyer stressed. "Mr. Baldwin had no authority over the matters that were the subject of the Bureau's findings of violations, and we are pleased that the New Mexico officials have clarified these critical issues. We are confident that the individuals identified in the report will be held accountable for this tragedy."

OHSB found that the "Rust" producers "willfully violated" industry safety protocols. They fined the company $137,000, the maximum amount possible, for the safety violations. "The report concludes that Rust Movie Productions, LLC management knew that firearm safety procedures were not being followed on set and demonstrated plain indifference to employee safety by failing to review work practices and take corrective action," according to the bureau's statement.

In particular, the report pointed out that armourer Hannah Gutierrez Reed was not given the chance to perform her job. Hannah was not in the church on the Old West set when the gun was handed to Baldwin and then went off.

Additionally, the probe found that 'Rust' management ignored concerns raised by crew members about firearm and pyrotechnics misfires on set prior to the shooting incident. Weapons specialists were not allowed to make decisions about additional safety training, OSHB pointed out. Baldwin, seven producers and other 'Rust' crew members, including Hannah, still face a wrongful death lawsuit from Halyna Hutchins' family, alleging that reckless behaviour and cost-cutting led to the cinematographer's death.