Souza spoke with investigators Friday, according to a search warrant affidavit released Sunday by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.
Souza told them that Baldwin was “sitting on a bench in the church building and practicing drawing the cross,” the affidavit said. A cross shooter is when the shooter draws the weapon from the holster on the opposite side of the body from the throwing hand.
Souza was looking over Hitchens’ shoulder “when she heard a whip and then a loud pop,” according to the affidavit.
According to the document, Souza recalled Hutchins “complaining about his stomach and clutching his stomach” after the shooting.
Investigators also spoke with camera operator Reed Russell, who was with Souza and Hutchins at the time of the incident, according to the affidavit.
Russell recalled that Hutchins “said she couldn’t feel her legs” and doctors treated her as she lay bleeding on the floor, investigators said.
Souza and Russell both acknowledged the difficulties on set that day due to some members of the camera department taking time off to pay and accommodate. Due to work issues, Souza said he only had one camera available to use that day and it was not recording at the time of the incident.
Souza also confirmed to a researcher that he heard the term “cold gun” on set, meaning the firearm must be unloaded.
According to the order, Souza said three people were handling guns or firearms for the scenes: Almari and the first assistant director checked them and then gave them to the actor using them. .
The investigator said Souza was unaware that anyone on set was being checked to see if live ammunition was present before or after filming scenes.
“The only thing checked is the firearm to prevent live ammunition. Joel (Souza) said there should never be a live round near or around the site,” the affidavit said. .
Representatives for Souza did not return CNN’s requests for comment.
According to the affidavit, Russell told investigators that Baldwin was “trying to explain how he would draw the gun and where his arm would be when the gun was removed from the holster.”
The affidavit states that Russell was not sure why he fired the gun and remembered the gun firing.
When asked how Baldwin handled firearms, Russell told investigators that the actor was “very careful” and recalled an earlier case in which Baldwin “made sure he was safe. And there was no child near him when he was firing the gun. During that scene.”
The search warrant sought to recover footage used by the set’s cameras, video cameras, computer equipment and memory cards.
No charges have been filed in the incident. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office says it will discuss the case at a news conference Wednesday.
The Deputy Director became the target of complaints.
According to an affidavit…