SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of a Western and killed the cinematographer, officials said. The director of the movie was wounded, and authorities are investigating what happened. If you are a victim of such cases, you can call on experts like lawbrokr.com.
Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer on “Rust,” and director Joel Souza were shot Thursday in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe.
A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said detectives were investigating what type of projectile was discharged and how. No immediate charges were filed.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Baldwin was seen Thursday outside the sheriff’s office in tears, but attempts to get comment from him were unsuccessful. The 63-year-old actor is known for his roles in “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” as well as his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”
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 Brandon Lee was killed after a bullet was left in a prop gun.
Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance to a medical center.
“The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,” International Cinematographers Guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.
Sheriff’s deputies responded about 2 p.m. to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 calls described a person being shot there, said Rios, the sheriff’s spokesman. The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western “News of the World.”
“This investigation remains open and active,” Rios said in a statement. “No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives.”
Hutchins, a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute, worked as director of photography on the 2020 action film “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello. She was named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer in 2019.
“I’m so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set,” said “Archenemy” director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter. “She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film.”
Manganiello called Hutchins “an incredible talent” and “a great person” on his Instagram account. He said he was lucky to have worked with her.
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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— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021
Hutchins had Ukrainian citizenship, according to Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko. The country’s consulate in San Francisco is clarifying what happened and is working together with law enforcement officials.
Baldwin teamed up as a producer previously with Souza on the 2019 film, “Crown Vic,” which starred Thomas Jane as a veteran Los Angeles police officer on a manhunt for two violent bank robbers. Souza’s first credited film, 2010’s “Hanna’s Gold,” was a treasure hunt adventure featuring Luke Perry.
Production was halted on “Rust.” The movie is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s’ Kansas, according to the Internet Movie Database website. The teen goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather (played by Baldwin) after the boy is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.
In 1993, Brandon Lee, son of martial arts star Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie “The Crow.” The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.
A Twitter account run by Lee’s sister Shannon said: “Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust.’ No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.”
In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series “Cover Up.”
Such shootings have also happened during historical reenactments. In 2015, an actor staging a historical gunfight in the Old West town of Tombstone, Arizona, was shot and wounded with a live round during a show that was supposed to use blanks.
In Hill City, South Dakota, a tourist town that recreates an Old West experience, three spectators were wounded in 2011 when a re-enactor fired real bullets instead of blanks.
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Berry reported from Phoenix. Associated Press film writer Jake Coyle and writer Yuras Karmanau in Kyiv, Ukraine, contributed to this report.
© 2021 The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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Lock that piece of garbage up .
Maybe he’d like to re-enact the shooting on SNL to show how incredibly stupid he is after all the **** he did making fun of Trump.
Couldn’t have happened to a better guy. He’ll live with this the rest of his life. Making fun of Trump, huh? Karma, baby!!!
Daughter abusing, hot tempered Baldwin has been a loose cannon and loaded gun awaiting to go off for years. This bully of women and girly men had no reason to point even an empty prop gun at another human in anger or jest and deserves the full weight of the law thrown at him.,,,,,with Trump now playing HIM on Saturday night live, because Baldwin when compared to a real compassionate human being is a joke. Those who know him well realize His innocent pleas of “I didn’t know the gun was loaded, so I shot the Sheriff in the head” are classic coverups of cowardice, which all bullies really are.
Remember that because he is a loyal DEMONcrat nothing will be done to him he will get off scott free and pay nothing, and another thing sence he cares nothing about human life he has no conscious when it comes to hurting others, the guy is completely oblivious of anything he has done wrong.
Unfortunately i fear you are right.. HE is a loyal libtard, so NO CRIMINAL charges will Ever come his way.
I would think anti-gun activist Baldwin would know to clear the gun before he starts waving it around.
Whatever he was aiming it at should not have been another person on the set.
People who oppose the 2nd Amendment can’t comprehend guns.
He should never be allowed near guns again, as a start.
Tried for felony reckless manslaughter would be much better.
HE probably doesn’t even KNOW HOW to properly clear the weapon…
To pass through the victim with enough power to strike the Director behind her you know it has to be a live round of at least 45 calibur. We all know Baldin has enemies but who could go to this extreme to embarrass him by slipping a live round into his weapon, which he treated like a toy.
Well I would not accuse him of deliberately killing her, I feel on his part he did not know the gun was loaded. Likewise I doubt someone switched out blanks for live rounds just to get to him for some reason. All we really know is it was not a prop gun, but an actual Colt SA or a replica. SA stands for single action. Only one action happens at a time. If you just pull the trigger w/o first cocking the hammer, nothing happens. So this is exactly what happened. He took possession of a firearm and did not check it. He deliberately pulled the hammer back. He deliberately pointed it at another person. He deliberately pulled the trigger. I am willing to give him the benefit of the doubt that he actually believed the gun to be empty, or at most loaded with blanks. At anything over a few feet, blanks could at most sting a little if the wadding hit bare flesh. That was a full pressure load of a real bullet that passed through one person and seriously wounded another. The gun was cocked, aimed, and fired. It did not malfunction. I am willing to bet that when the weapon is/was checked after, it locked the hammer back just fine. She was killed as a direct result of actions on his part, with no regard for safety. He needs to charged and tried for manslaughter.
With as often as he’s worked for anti-gun laws, IF HE DIDN’T know you need to check the weapon, before handling/firing it, THAT IS ON HIM..
You are of course correct, the only person that gun should have pointed at is his own head just to see if it was in working condition.
The moron was probably showing off his FAST DRAW skills. His actual SKILLS are very limited, in my opinion.
Definitely NOT a Smart Alec.
Idiots with guns are as dangerous as their beliefs. It was not a premeditated (I hope!) murder,
but it WAS a murder. Karma finally got that kutas.
The perp: Alec BaldLoose
No need for him to worry he is a democrat and they cannot be accused, tried or convicted for any crime not matter the circumstances.
Not these days… THEY SEEM TO all be above the law..
You never win a gun real or not at anybody. Any Moron knows that. put him in jail.
This was NOT a prop gun. It was a real actual gun, loaded with a blank shell. Prop guns don’t shoot.
There was a gun safety expert onsite. What good was he? None.
Everyone who is intended to work within 25 feet of someone with a gun in a movie should have to undergo a gun safety course and pass with a digital certificate, so it can’t be faked later. If Baldwin wasn’t trained in gun safety (of course he wasn’t) then sue the studio for wrongful death.
If Baldwin was trained and certified, then this is reckless manslaughter and Baldwin needs to go to prison.
Libs talk all day about gun control but can’t comprehend how to practice it in the real world.
1. Never point at anything you don’t intend to shoot.
2. Never shoot at anything you don’t intend to kill.
IF You need to pass all those gun safety courses to get permits to carry, YOU DAMN WELL SHOULD HAVE the same exact training requirements, to work with guns in hollywood!
Agreed. NOT a prop gun.
Part of your statement is not correct, I have a blank gun, it does fire .22 blanks and take my word for it they go bang and are loud, the type of blank gun i have is used 8n sporting activities, it is also called a starter gun. The gun that the idiot had was the real thing, it was supposed to be loaded with blanks but someone put a live round in it.
Killed Thursday “in the desert”. Hmmm. What’s missing in this reporting?
There is no reason whatsoever to have live ammunition on a movie set.
Last year my grand kids were visiting and they noticed mushrooms growing in the back pasture.
“Which ones are poison?” I was asked.
“ALL OF THEM!” was my answer (in order to eliminate confusion and a possible tragedy) .
It’s the same with gun safety. They must all be handled as “loaded with live ammo”. My NRA training from childhood taught that “all guns are loaded”.
Every one should be taught FIREARM SAFETY from kindergarten on up….
The next big rule will be the elimination of the word gun from the english language. As it probably upsets the snowflakes and makes them want to prance incorrectly.
I doubt one would have to dig too deep to find an example of a child being suspended from class or school for saying “gun”. We know at least one was for drawing a gun and another for chewing his Pop Tart into a gun shape.