Assistant director backs Alec Baldwin’s claim that he didn’t pull the trigger

His ‘finger was never in the trigger guard’ according to Rust crew member Dave Halls

The assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin the prop gun on the set of Rust, before the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, has supported the actor’s claim that he never actually pulled the trigger.

Assistant director Dave Halls told his attorney Lisa Torraco that Mr Baldwin’s “finger was never in the trigger guard,” she told ABC News.

“Dave has told me since the very first day I met him that Alec did not pull that trigger,” Ms Torraco reiterated on Thursday’s Good Morning America.

“The entire time, Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard, parallel to the barrel. [Halls] told me since day one that he thought it was a misfire,” Torraco continued.

“It was a pure accident – freak, awful accident [that] unfortunately killed somebody.”

In the preview of the first interview with Mr Baldwin since the shooting, set to air on Thursday night on ABC, the actor tells host George Stephanopoulos that he has “no idea” how a real bullet got on set and they discuss that it wasn’t in the script for the trigger to be pulled on the gun. “The trigger wasn’t pulled, I didn’t pull the trigger,” Mr Baldwin said.

“Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property,” he said.

Assistant director Mr Halls allegedly didn’t know there were live rounds in the gun, before announcing “cold gun” and giving Mr Baldwin the weapon. Armourer Hannah Gutierrez had allegedly put three guns on a cart outside of a wooden structure.

“We are convinced that this was sabotage and Hannah is being framed,” Ms Gutierrez’s attorney Jason Bowles said in a statement, reported Variety. “We believe that the scene was tampered with as well before the police arrived.”

Ahead of the airing of his exclusive ABC interview, Mr Baldwin has set his Twitter account to private. He has previously posted about the incident. “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” he wrote.

“I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”