"Guns don't just go off"

In a statement Thursday, first camera assistant Lane Luper, through his Albuquerque attorney, countered Baldwin’s remarks — just hours before a planned ABC prime-time program. Baldwin told ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that he didn’t fire the gun during an Oct. 21 rehearsal, killing Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

“The trigger wasn’t pulled. I didn’t pull the trigger. No, no, no, no, no,” Baldwin told Stephanopoulos in a clip from “Alec Baldwin Unscripted.” “I would never point a gun at anyone and pull the trigger at them. Never.”

Although he was not on the set the day of the shooting, Luper, through his attorney, Jacob G. Vigil, said Baldwin’s claims didn’t add up.

“Guns don’t just go off. The single action Colt .45 revolver handled by Alec Baldwin required multiple active steps to discharge and kill Halyna Hutchins,” Luper said in the statement. “The gun had to be loaded with live ammunition, held and pointed, the hammer of the weapon manually cocked, and the trigger pulled. It was not a magic self-firing weapon.”