Alec Baldwin accidentally shoots and kills cinematographer
Alec Baldwin accidentally shoots and kills cinematographer, 42, and wounds film’s director with a PROP GUN on New Mexico set of his new western movie Rust
Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, was fatally struck in the incident on set in Santa Fe on ThursdayPolice confirmed that Alec Baldwin fired the prop gun in a mishap while shooting a scene for the movie Writer-director Joel Souza, 48, was also struck and injured in bizarre incident but is expected to survive Filming was halted on the set in Santa Fe after fatal incident and production of Rust has been haltedBaldwin plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder
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Baldwin is seen FaceTiming wife Hilaria on Thursday, hours before accidentally shooting a cinematographer dead
Alec Baldwin has shot and killed a cinematographer on the set of the upcoming Western movie Rust, after a prop firearm he was using for a scene discharged in a tragic accident.
Director of Photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot dead in the incident on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where writer-director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured.
Baldwin, 68, was confirmed as the individual who fired the prop gun, which somehow unintentionally launched a projectile or projectiles at the crew members, in a statement from the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office.
The actor was seen in tears outside the sheriff’s office following Hutchins’ tragic death, according to the Santa Fe New Mexican.
He is a co-producer on the film, in which he plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.
It was not immediately clear whether the prop gun that killed Hutchins was somehow loaded with real bullets, or if the gunpowder used in theatrical blank cartridges may have launched debris of some kind from the barrel.
Representatives for Baldwin, Souza, and Rust’s executive producer did not immediately respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com late on Thursday.
Hutchins’ devastated friends were too distraught to talk, but Ariel Vida, a production designer who worked with the director of photography on 2020 film Archenemy confirmed her death to DailyMail.com, tearfully adding: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this right now.’
No criminal charges have been filed, but police said that a criminal investigation into the incident is currently active to determine the circumstances of Hutchins’ death.
‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said in a statement. ‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.’
‘The incident remains an active investigation. As more information becomes available, updates will be provided,’ he added.
Alec Baldwin is seen on the set of Rust with fake blood earlier Thursday, hours before he shot and killed the film’s cinematographer. Filming was halted following the fatal incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe
Halyna Hutchins, 42, (left) was shot dead in the incident on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where writer-director Joel Souza, 48, (right) was also injured
Police tape cordons of a small church used as a set for the movie, after a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe on Thursday
Security guards block Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe after Hutchins was killed in the shooting on set Thursday. In the film, Baldwin plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder
Filming for Rust was set to continue through early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office, but production has now been halted on the film.
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 a synopsis.
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.
Baldwin stars in the film alongside Travis Fimmel, Jensen Ackles and Frances Fisher.
The tragic shooting is reminiscent of the 1993 death of Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow, where a bullet that was lodged in the barrel of a prop gun was propelled out by a blank round, killing him.
‘Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust,’ tweeted Brandon Lee’s sister Shannon from a tribute account dedicated to her brother. ‘No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.’
Director of photography Halyna Hutchins was killed in the tragic incident on Thursday
Following Thursday’s tragedy, friends took to Hutchins’ Instagram page to leave tributes underneath a video filmed two days ago that showed her riding a horse on her day off.
James Cullen wrote: ‘I will miss you my friend. This is devastating.’
Another friend Jack Caswell added: ‘I feel like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me. You will be so missed’ while Tina Presley Borek said: ‘Heartbroken.’
‘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.’
The International Cinematographers Guild also lamented Hutchins’ untimely death in a statement.
‘The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,’ guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said.
Hutchins, who lived in Venice Beach, California, was considered one of Hollywood’s rising stars – named in a list of cinematographers to watch in 2019 by American Cinematographer.
The daughter of a soldier, Hutchins grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle before going to college in Ukrainian capital Kiev.
She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master’s degree in cinematography and switching to movies.
Her credits include horror film Darlin and, shortly before starting work on Rust, she had completed filming on Blindfire – a crime drama starring Brian Geraghty and Sharon Leal.
A crewmember has been killed on the set (above) of the upcoming Western movie Rust, starring Alec Baldwin, after a prop firearm discharged in a tragic accident
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Officers respond to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe. Authorities say a woman has been killed and a man injured Thursday after they were shot by a prop firearm
The fatal shooting appears to have occurred at the small church building (left) that is part of the sprawling movie ranch
Hutchins, who lived in Venice Beach, California, was considered one of Hollywood’s rising stars – named in a list of cinematographers to watch in 2019 by American Cinematographer
She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master’s degree in cinematography and switching to movies
The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office says it responded to the movie set at around 1.50pm after a 911 caller indicated someone had been shot in the arm.
‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,’ the statement added.
Police said that a 42-year-old female, later identified as Hutchins, was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The director, Souza, was rushed by ambulance to Cristus St. Vincent’s Hospital where he is being treated for injuries, and is expected to survive.
‘There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,’ read a statement from Rust Movie Productions LLC.
‘Two crew members have been taken to the hospital and are receiving care. Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,’ the statement concluded.
Cast members are seen on set during the filming of Rust. Alec Baldwin was filming a scene that involved a prop gun being fired, and the film’s director of photography was killed in a mishap with the gun
Albuquerque’s KOB 4 news anchor Tessa Mentus tweeted a photo from her network’s chopper, showing a church set blocked off.
‘@santafesheriff investigating incident at #Rust movie set on Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. Pic from #Chopper4 shows an old church set blocked off, and set security confirms its lockdown,’ Mentus tweeted.
Another KOB 4 reporter, Giuli Frendak, shared a photo of a security gate, adding, ‘Security guard at the entrance to the set of Rust’, a western movie in production in #SantaFe, told us the set is on lockdown right now. Couldn’t share anything else. Waiting for more details from Santa Fe Sheriff on today’s incident near Bonanza Creek.’
The fate of Rust is now up in the air following the tragic shooting. Baldwin is a co-producer on the film and plays infamous outlaw named Rust, who goes on the run with his grandson.
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.
CAA Media Finance and Highland Film Group were launching sales on the film at last year’s Cannes virtual film market, with Baldwin producing through his El Dorado Pictures banner alongside Anjul Nigam and executive producer Matthew Helderman. Baldwin and Nigam produced Souza’s previous feature, 2019’s Crown Vic.
Anna Granucci is also producing with Elizabeth L. Barbatelli as an executive producer.
New Mexico is a busy film location, and the Bonanza Creek Ranch has previously hosted star-studded productions including Hostiles, Cowboys & Aliens, 3:10 to Yuma, Appaloosa and Longmire.
It is not the first time that a prop gun has killed someone during the filming of a movie.
In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late 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. In that case, an investigation determined that a bullet became lodged in the barrel of the gun when the crew failed to properly deactivate the primer in a dummy cartridge, which is supposed to look like a real bullet but be inert.
Later, the gunpower in a blank cartridge, which creates the sound and muzzle flash of gunfire for film, propelled the stuck bullet out of the gun’s barrel, striking Lee.
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.
In that case, the paper wadding used to secure the gunpowder in the blank cartridge was expelled with enough force to shatter his skull near the temple, sending fragments into Hexum’s brain and causing massive hemorrhaging.
