Albuquerque weapons provider searched in probe of fatal ‘Rust’ shooting

A judge authorized the search of an Albuquerque weapons provider on Tuesday as part of a probe into the use of live ammunition on the set of the Alec Baldwin film “Rust.”

According to the Los Angeles Times, PDQ Arm & Prop LLC was searched for evidence of ammunition containing the Starline Brass logo, gun cleaning equipment, documentation relating to “Rust” and surveillance footage.

“Rust” armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed informed investigators that Seth Kenney, the owner of PDQ Arm & Prop LLC, was the weapons provider for the film, the newspaper reported.

Gutierrez Reed reportedly recounted to members of the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office that on the day of the fatal shooting she had difficulty loading the Colt .45 single-action revolver that Baldwin ultimately fired, killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

“Hannah stated there was one round that wouldn’t go in, so after lunch she took the cleaner, cleaned ‘it’ out, and put another round in, which brought the total to six rounds loaded into the weapon,” sheriff’s detective Alexandria Hancock wrote in an affidavit for the weapons provider search warrant, according to the Times.

Gutierrez Reed’s lawyer said that she did not realize the rounds were live at the time, as live ammunition is not typically allowed on set.

Kenney in conversation with a detective in October said that “he may know where the live rounds came from,” and that a friend had previously given him “reloaded ammunition,” the Times noted.

At that time, Kenney also reportedly said that the ammunition “stuck out to him, due to the suspected live round to have a cartridge with the Starline Brass logo on it.”

According to a production office crew list viewed by the Times, Kenney was listed as an “armorer mentor” for “Rust.” Despite that, Kenney has denied that he acted in that capacity and that his name was listed in error.

“Seth Kenney was not the ‘Armorer Mentor’ nor did he hold any other position or capacity with ‘Rust,’ and prior to the tragedy had never been to set or the production office,” a statement Kenney reportedly provided to the Times on Nov. 19 read. “PDQ Arm & Prop, LLC provided the guns, Blanks and a portion of Dummy Rounds to ‘Rust.’ Consistent with the safe industry standards, PDQ did not provide Live Ammunition to ‘Rust.’ “