© Jim Weber/The New Mexican
A distraught Alec Baldwin lingers in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s offices on Camino Justicia after being questioned.
Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and injured a director during a tragic accident when a prop gun discharged on the New Mexico movie set of the film
Rust, authorities said.
The filming location at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe was sent into lockdown and production was halted following the
accidental double shooting at around 2 p.m.
"There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of
Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with
blanks," a production spokesperson
told Deadline.
The Western drama's director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, 42, and its director, Joel Souza, 48, were struck in the incident, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office.
Hutchins was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque and died from her injuries. Souza was being treated at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, authorities said.
© Halyna Hutchins/Instagram
Alec Baldwin and Halyna Hutchins are pictured among the cast and crew of “Rust” two days before the tragedy.
Comment: No official updates yet, but a UK tabloid is
reporting:
Alec Baldwin reportedly didn't know that the prop gun which killed one and seriously injured another on the set of Rust on Thursday contained live rounds.
The actor is said to have cocked and fired the gun on set of the Western movie and hit the film's director and cinematographer...
It better be that, because if it wasn't the accidental discharge of one live round that hit Hutchins and ricocheted into Souza, then it's possible we're looking at the deliberate discharge of at least one, and more likely two, blanks at very close range, suggesting a 'prank gone wrong' that Baldwin will never be able to live down.
Updates 22 October 2021
Interesting commentary on this by Mike Tristano, a Hollywood armorer with 30 years' experience. He
told the Daily Mail:
"Ultimate responsibility for gun safety on movie set rests with the armorer. There should have been blanks in the gun, the on-set armorer's job is to check that before handing the weapon over. They then make sure that the actor stands on a mark and never points the gun at the crew or cast. The editing makes it seem like they were pointing at their co-actor. That's why everyone in the industry is very confused. How this happened is a total mystery at the moment."
One Hollywood union - not that representing Baldwin or the victims, but which represents prop masters on film sets - is
claiming with certainty that the gun was loaded with live ammunition, but there's no official confirmation of that yet.
More commentary from people who have worked with firearms on movie sets, who explain that
the gun had to have been loaded with live rounds (which is absolutely prohibited in the film-making industry):
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- Ideologically possessed pet owners who force their cats to be vegan could risk breaking the law
- Animal abuse: California shelter proposing to put all dogs on vegan diet
A famous clip from a couple of years ago:And more recently: