Alec Baldwin To ABC About Misfire On Rust Set: 'I Didn't Pull The Trigger'

Alec Baldwin told ABC's George Stephanopoulos in an interview airing on December 2 that he did not pull the trigger on a prop gun he was holding on a New Mexico film set when it went off, killing a cinematographer. "I didn't pull the trigger," Baldwin said. "I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never." It is Baldwin's first sitdown interview since the October 21 shooting on the set of the western film Rust.

The assistant director who handed Alec Baldwin a prop gun that went off on a New Mexico film set, killing a cinematographer, backs up the actor's assertion that he did not pull the trigger. Lisa Torraco, a lawyer for assistant director David Halls, told ABC News that her client has always said Baldwin never pulled the trigger. "He told me since day one he thought it was a misfire," Torraco said. "Until Alec said that, it was just really hard to believe, but Dave has told me since the very first day I met him, that Alec did not pull that trigger."

Authorities have said Baldwin was told the gun was safe to handle but continue to investigate how a live round ended up in the weapon. ABC released a clip on December 1 that shows Baldwin breaking down in tears while describing Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer who was killed on the set. Director Joel Souza was also wounded.

Alec Baldwin said in response to a question about how a live round ended up on the set: "I have no idea. Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn't even supposed to be on the property."

The interview will air as part of an hourlong special on ABC at 8 pm Eastern time on Thursday, December 2, and stream on Hulu later that evening. Investigators have described "some complacency" in how weapons were handled on the Rust set. They have said it is too soon to determine whether charges will be filed, amid independent civil lawsuits concerning liability in the fatal shooting.

ABC said a two-hour special called 20/20 next week will examine the investigation into the shooting in more depth.