'Rust' Assistant Director Emotionally Recalls the Moment Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins Was Shot: 'It Wasn't Computing'

Rust assistant director Dave Halls was left in shock after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot on set.

On Thursday, February 29, the filmmaker took the stand in court and emotionally testified about the moment he realized there had been a live round in the prop weapon Alec Baldwin had been given for the scene.

"It wasn’t computing. My thought was that a blank round had been loaded," he explained, before tearfully revealing Hutchins told them, "I can't feel my legs" after being shot.

Halls confessed he'd been "negligent" in checking the gun "properly" and that he wanted to take the stand so that the late cinematographer's family can "know the truth of what happened" that day.

"It’s important that the cast and the crew, producers of Rust know what happened," he continued. "And it’s important that the industry, the motion picture and television industry, knows what happened so that this never happens again."

As OK! previously reported, Halls pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge for negligent use of a deadly weapon in March 2023 and was given six months probation.

Baldwin has maintained he is innocent of wrongdoing and later insisted he did not pull the trigger.

"I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never. I have no idea [how a bullet got in there]," he said in a December 2021 interview. the actor said in December 2021. "Someone put a live bullet in a gun. A bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property."

However, experts conducted tests on the firearm and concluded the weapon would not have fired without the trigger being pulled or depressed in some way.

The 30 Rock actor was indicted for involuntary manslaughter in January. The legal filing accused Baldwin of causing "the death of Halyna Hutchins by an act committed with the total disregard or indifference for the safety of others, and the act was such that an ordinary person would anticipate that death might occur under the circumstances."

The set armorer, Hannah Gutierrez, 26, was also charged with involuntary manslaughter as well as tampering with evidence. She pleaded not guilty to all charges.

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ABC News reported the details of Halls' testimony.