News Alec Baldwin Accidentally Shoots & Kills Cinematographer, Wounds Director with Prop Gun

Alec Baldwin Fired Prop Gun That Killed Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, Injured Director
By Pat Saperstein, Gene Maddaus - Oct 21, 2021 3:50pm PT

Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a set in New Mexico on Thursday, accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

The incident occurred on the set of “Rust,” an independent feature that was filming at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular production location south of Santa Fe.

Hutchins, 42, was transported by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she died. Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, where he is undergoing treatment for his injuries, according to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office.

The Sheriff’s office said in a statement that Hutchins and Souza “were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin, 68, producer and actor.”

No one was arrested in the incident, and no charges have been filed, the office said. Detectives were interviewing witnesses, and the incident remains under an “open and active” investigation, according to the Sheriff’s office.

The Sheriff’s office received a 911 call reporting the incident at 1:50 p.m. Mountain Time.

“The Santa Fe County sheriff’s office confirms that two individuals were shot during filming of a scene on the set of the movie western ‘Rust’,” the office said in its initial statement. “According to investigators it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged. Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.”

Hutchins graduated from the American Film Institute in 2015, and had worked on several short films before shooting “Archenemy,” a 2020 feature starring Joe Manganiello. She was named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer in 2019.

“She’s a wonderful, positive, creative person that was so excited to be breaking through and making movies,” said Michael Pessah, a cinematographer who was a friend of Hutchins’. “She was really on the upswing.”

Souza is writing and directing the Western, which also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles, Brady Noon and Travis Fimmel.

Baldwin is a co-producer on the film and plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder. Ackles plays a U.S. Marshal and Fimmel plays a bounty hunter who are on the pair’s tail as Rust tries to break his grandson out of prison. An unexpected bond forms between the outlaw and his estranged grandson as they go on the run.​

https://variety.com/2021/film/news/alec-baldwin-rust-incident-santa-fe-1235094931/


Jesus. What a tragedy, for all involved, and especially for the loss of Hutchins' life and Souza's if he doesn't pull through. Last I heard the director is in critical condition.

Waiting to hear the full report if it's like a Brandon Lee situation where there was debris from the blank round that shot out of the barrel, killing him. Seems unlikely for that to happen twice or to randomly strike two people with such force. I'm hoping it's not a case where someone accidentally loaded live rounds.

 

The Brandon Lee story is the first thing that came to my mind. I feel terrible for all involved and their families. Just absolutely sucks. I'm also not sure why every article is giving a quick rundown of the plot--doesn't seem like the time?

 

Wow. What can I say about this awful tragedy? Just interested in developments. Terrible.

 

Terrible news all around.

 

This is horrible.

 

I don't like the way reports are saying "shot by" rather than "accidental shooting" or similar.

 

I think that is because it's for the investigators to rule that - which is why the police don't say it's accidental - even though it clearly is.

 

The Washington Post is reporting that Baldwin was acting in character when he discharged the prop weapon.

 

If it's true they weren't even filming that isn't good not that isn't a tragedy already.

 

This is all the talk around here in Albuquerque. I've got quite a few friends in our burgeoning film industry and they are all in shock. I'm not an Alec Baldwin fin by any means, but I really feel badly for him. The anguish he's going through, as well as Hutchins' family, of course, is unimaginable.

 

Yeah. I'm not an Alec Baldwin fan either, but he's got to be absolutely shattered by this, and I do feel for him right now...

 

Oh, absolutely. This is going to haunt Baldwin the rest of his life. And as awful as that is, it's undoubtedly worse for Hutchins' family. A truly crappy situation for all involved.

News articles tend to strive to be as thorough as possible, even to the point of including details that have no relevance to the main story being reported.

 

It's not clear yet what exactly happened. Whether Baldwin was just holding it and it went off or if he was joking around with it, whether it was a Brandon Lee situation or loaded with real ammunition.

 

Difficult to process this as possible with a modern 'prop' gun.

After accidents in the past, that any prop gun would be capable of discharging anything, even just wadding, is baffling.

Barrels are blocked and the chamber is modified to prevent shells with projectiles attached from being inserted. Weird.

Can't wait to hear this explanation.

 

Baldwin was not joking around with the gun. There are lots of fake news clippings that claim he was, but they are all false. He was not joking or messing around at all.

 

I haven't read any of them, I'm just curious why it was pointed at a human being enough for an accident to be fatal.

 

Guess we need to be patient as the details are always fast and loose in the beginning with these things.

 

Alec Baldwin was told a loaded gun was safe to use before he shot dead a cinematographer on the set of his new film, according to court records.

The 63-year-old actor was handed the prop firearm by an assistant director who mistakenly indicated it did not contain live ammunition by shouting “cold gun”, it was claimed in a search warrant filed by investigators.

The warrant stated the gun was one of three firearms that had been placed on a cart by film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez. Asistant director Dave Halls took the weapon and gave it to Baldwin, who was acting a scene for the Western film Rust inside a wooden structure at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Baldwin, who was playing an outlaw embroiled in the aftermath of an accidental shooting, is said to have repeatedly cried “Why was I handed a hot gun?” following the incident on Thursday afternoon.

PAYWALL:

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/...4?shareToken=9decf6e8dfcbff9dbf47bcd0529f1ba0

 

Being as it apparently hit two people that would indicate a scattered emission rather than a single projectile. It may not have been pointed at anyone.

Assuming it was only fired once of course.

 

That's just what I thought. I would have assumed a prop gun would be incapable of firing a live round - or anything for that matter. They'd be no more real than those little cap guns I used to run around with as a kid.