Police are still actively investigating what happened on the set of the western movie Rust, which resulted in the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The cast and crew had been preparing a scene which called for Alec Baldwin's character to draw a firearm and point it at the camera. It's not entirely clear what happened next, but somehow, the gun discharged a live round which struck both Hutchins and director Joel Souza. Hutchins was flown by helicopter to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, while Souza was treated for his injuries and released soon after.

In a lengthy new interview with ABC's George Stephanopoulos, Alec Baldwin opened up about the deadly accident. Through tears, he spoke about how loved and admired Hutchins was by everyone who worked with her. Of the accident, Baldwin gave his side of the story and said he never actually pulled the trigger of the firearm, which had been handed to him by assistant director Dave Halls and referred to as a "cold gun." From the interview, here's how the actor details what happened during the actual moment the gun discharged, claiming that it was because he'd let go of the hammer, and only had the weapon pointed at Hutchins' after she instructed him to do so.

"This was a completely incidental shot, an angle that may not have even been in the film at all. But, we kept doing this, and so I said to her, 'Now in this scene, I'm gonna cock the gun. I said, 'Do you want to see that?' And she said, 'Yes.' So, I take the gun, I start to cock the gun. I'm not gonna pull the trigger. I said, 'Do you see this?' 'Well, just cheat it down, and tilt it down a little bit like that.' And I cocked the gun, and go, 'Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?' Then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off. That was moment the gun went off."

The claim that Alec Baldwin didn't have his finger on the trigger was corroborated by assistant director Dave Halls. Halls' lawyer also said on Good Morning America on Thursday and said that Baldwin had his finger outside the trigger guard "the entire time," and Halls has been insisting from day one that he thought this was a "misfire." In his ABC interview, Baldwin added that it didn't even dawn on him until nearly an hour later that it could have been a live round in the gun. He asserts that this was a freak accident and not an act of sabotage as the armorer's lawyer has alleged.

Baldwin also seemed to agree with brother Daniel's recent comments that gun safety measures are up to the armorer and other firearm professionals and not on the actors themselves. In response to criticism that he's liable as a producer on the movie, Baldwin said he was a "creative producer" whose role was focused on the content, and he was not the one who made the hiring decisions. Ultimately, he feels that the person responsible, who has yet to be named by police, is whoever caused live rounds to wind up on the set.

"I feel that someone is responsible for what happened, and I can't say who that is, but I know it's not me. Honest to God, if I felt that I was responsible, I've have killed myself if I thought I was responsible. I don't say that lightly."

You can watch the full interview, dubbed Alec Baldwin: Unscripted, streaming on Hulu.