By Andrew Hay
(Reuters) - The&nbsp;prop&nbsp;supplier&nbsp;for &ldquo;Rust&rdquo; said the movie&rsquo;s&nbsp;armorer&nbsp;told&nbsp;him that&nbsp;before&nbsp;the production she&nbsp;bought&nbsp;the same type of ammunition as the&nbsp;live&nbsp;round that killed the cinematographer during filming in 2021, according to sheriff&rsquo;s office records.
Armorer&nbsp;Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is the only person still facing charges in the fatal&nbsp;shooting&nbsp;of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins after prosecutors in April dismissed a charge against actor Alec Baldwin based on new evidence.
Investigators have not been able to establish the source of the&nbsp;live&nbsp;round that killed Hutchins on Oct. 21, 2021.
In text messages released by the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office (SFCSO) in response to a Reuters public records request, Seth Kenney, owner of&nbsp;prop&nbsp;supplier&nbsp;PDQ Arm &amp;&nbsp;Prop,&nbsp;told&nbsp;SFCSO Detective Alexandria Hancock that Gutierrez-Reed&nbsp;told&nbsp;him in a telephone conversation after Aug. 3, 2021, that she had&nbsp;bought&nbsp;live&nbsp;.45 long Colt ammunition to shoot in her own gun.
Gutierrez-Reed's lawyer Jason Bowles&nbsp;told&nbsp;Reuters that no such conversation took place, that she had never&nbsp;bought&nbsp;nor had access to&nbsp;live&nbsp;long Colt .45 ammunition and that her father kept her long Colt .45 revolver at a location Gutierrez-Reed did not have access to.
Gutierrez-Reed has&nbsp;told&nbsp;police&nbsp;she loaded the&nbsp;live&nbsp;round into Baldwin's revolver, mistaking it for a dummy round. She said she did not know how&nbsp;live&nbsp;rounds&nbsp;got onto the set.
Kenney did not respond to a request for comment. Gutierrez-Reed sued Kenney in 2022, alleging he supplied&nbsp;live&nbsp;rounds&nbsp;to "Rust" and misrepresented them as dummy&nbsp;rounds. Kenney has denied supplying&nbsp;live&nbsp;rounds&nbsp;and has not been charged.
SFCSO declined to comment. Special prosecutors on the case did not respond to a request for comment.
Hutchins was killed when a revolver chambered in .45 long Colt that Baldwin was rehearsing with fired a&nbsp;live&nbsp;round that killed Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza on a set outside Santa Fe.
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(Reporting By Andrew Hay in Taos, New Mexico; Editing by Gerry Doyle)

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Armorer bought live rounds before 'Rust' shooting, prop supplier told police