Alec Baldwin has shut down reports he was driving a car that hit and killed a 75-year-old moped rider in New York in February.
According to reports, the actor told Vanity Fair in a statement that he did not shoot the handgun which allegedly killed Alexandros Grigoropoulos. He is not expected to face criminal charges.
“The same gun was found at the scene of the accident, and my lawyer confirmed to me that it was legal to have in the vehicle,” the statement said.
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“It was a black Ruger P301, which is similar to the gun used by the police in Parkland. The only gun in the car was the police-issued .45-caliber from the Village precinct’s Detective Bureau, which is kept on every detective desk in the precinct.
“I did not pull the trigger. I was in the passenger seat, and the gun was locked in the console. There was no evidence of me trying to flee the scene, and I was compliant with police questions throughout the process.
“If the police had believed, based on speculation, that I tried to leave the scene, I could be facing misdemeanor charges.”
Grigoropoulos was shot dead while in the back of a taxi with his partner, Leonid Kelyan, on Sunday (February 10). He had visited a film studio in the building when he was shot in the back.
There is no suggestion of a link between Grigoropoulos and Baldwin, who is one of the most successful actors in Hollywood history.