Santa Fe, New Mexico – Actor Alec Baldwin does not believe the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the movie, Rust, was caused by sabotage.

In an interview with ABC News anchor George Stephanopoulos that aired Thursday, Baldwin said it was "overwhelmingly likely" that the October 21 incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico was an accident.

Baldwin was holding a Colt .45 revolver during a marking rehearsal for the low-budget western when the prop gun discharged a live bullet that killed Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza.

When Stephanopoulos asked about the possibility of sabotage – a charge raised by the lawyer for Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the armorer for the production – Baldwin could find no reason for it.

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"That’s an enormous charge to make, that someone came and did something, for what purpose?" Baldwin asked. "To attack who? To discredit who? To harm me? The production? What was their motive in doing that, if somebody did that?"

Baldwin also said he does not expect to be criminally charged in the matter. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office has been scrutinizing the actions of Baldwin, who was also a producer on the wester.

"I’ve been told by people who are in the know and even inside the state that it’s highly unlikely I would be charged with anything criminally," Baldwin said.

Crew members have already filed civil lawsuits against the producers, including Baldwin, accusing them of negligence.

While he expressed grief over Hutchins’ death, Baldwin said he does not feel any responsibility for what happened.

"Someone put a live bullet in a gun, a bullet that wasn’t even supposed to be on the property," Baldwin said. "Someone is responsible for what happened, and I can’t say who that is, but I know it’s not me."

The prime-time interview also presented more details on Baldwin’s assertion that he did not pull the trigger of the gun.

During rehearsal, Baldwin said Halls handed him a revolver. Baldwin recalled Halls telling him, "This is a cold gun" – an industry term to describe a weapon that is either literally empty or loaded with non-firing dummy rounds.

"Now, what happened there, and why he made that statement, and what the realities were, I have, again, I have no idea," Baldwin said.

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Halls told investigators that he did not check all the rounds in the gun before it was handed to Baldwin — a major breach of safety protocol, according to an affidavit filed with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

"The trigger wasn’t pulled," Baldwin said. "I didn’t pull the trigger. I cock the gun. I go, 'Can you see that? Can you see that? Can you see that?'" he recalled, referencing how he was checking camera angles with the gun in hand at the time the shooting occurred.

"And then I let go of the hammer of the gun, and the gun goes off," Baldwin

When Stephanopoulos noted how many industry experts and actors have said a gun is never pointed at another person on a film set under any circumstances, Baldwin replied he was taking directions from Hutchins.

"Unless the person is the cinematographer who is directing me where to point the gun for her camera angle," Baldwin quipped. "That’s exactly what happened."

On Thursday, a member of the Rust camera crew disputed Baldwin’s claim that he didn’t pull the trigger on the Colt .45 prop gun.

"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," first camera assistant Lane Luper said through his attorney in a statement, according to the Los Angeles Times.

"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."

However, the attorney representing Halls backed up Baldwin’s claim that he did not pull the trigger.

Luper and six other members of the camera crew resigned from the film on October 20, the night before the shooting, citing gun safety issues on set, a failure to receive paychecks and a lack of accommodations for people who lived in Albuquerque, New Mexico – about 50 miles from the ranch where the movie was being filmed.

“The production and its producers, including Baldwin, cut corners and endangered their entire crew by failing to follow industry safety rules,” Luper said in his statement.

Baldwin said he was not aware of complaints about safety problems on set. He said the day before some crew members quit, he was alerted to issues with hotel rooms for the crew. He said he was prepared to return a portion of his salary to help pay for rooms but, without a warning to him, crew members did not show up the next day.

According to Deadline, Rust Movie Productions said in a statement the day after Hutchins’ death that it was not aware of official safety complaints on set and that it was conducting its own review and cooperating with authorities.