Actor Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed the cinematographer of his latest movie when a prop gun – thought to be loaded with blanks – misfired on set Thursday, according to law enforcement authorities in New Mexico. The film’s director was also shot and was hospitalized. (Watch NBC News report above).
BREAKING: Sheriff: Producer Alec Baldwin fired the prop gun on the movie set of the Western "Rust" that killed photography chief and injured director. https://t.co/M5uQen6VzJ
— The Associated Press (@AP) October 22, 2021
The incident took place on the New Mexico ranch where “Rust,” a western, is being filmed.
Halyna Hutchins, the movie’s 42 year-old cinematographer, was airlifted to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Director Joel Souza, 48 years-old, received emergency medical care. Actress Frances Fisher tweeted that Souza has been discharged from the hospital.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff is investigating the matter. No one has been charged. A distraught Baldwin was seen outside the sheriff’s office Thursday afternoon, shortly after the shooting took place.
In a statement posted to Twitter, Baldwin wrote:
There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.
The Associated Press explains:
Prop guns fire blanks, gunpowder charges that produce a flash and a bang but not a hard projectile. But when the trigger is pulled, the paper or plastic wadding is ejected from the barrel with enough force that it can be lethal at close range, as proved to be the case in the death of an actor in 1984. In another on-set accident in 1993, the actor son of martial arts star Bruce Lee was killed after a bullet was left in a prop gun.
The film industry has been left shocked and in mourning after cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed on set when actor and producer Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm. https://t.co/Au8NXKe6lC
— CNN (@CNN) October 22, 2021
NBC News reports on the deceased:
Hutchins was originally from Ukraine, and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines, according to her website. Before graduating from the American Film Institute in Los Angeles, she studied journalism in Ukraine and worked as an investigative journalist with British documentary productions in Europe.
On her Instagram account she describes herself as a “restless dreamer” and “adrenaline junkie.”Recent posts included a group shot of the cast and crew on set of “Rust” in New Mexico. Another post showed a video of Hutchins riding a horse, along with the caption: “One of the perks of shooting a western is you get to ride horses on your day off.”