Alec Baldwin fired prop gun on set, killed woman, Sheriff says
The victim was Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for the western movie "Rust," filmed outside of Santa Fe, New Mexico. The director was also injured.
Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set and killed the cinematographer, authorities said. The director of the filmed Western was also injured and authorities are investigating what happened.
Halyna Hutchins, director of photography for the film Rust, and director Joel Souza were filmed Thursday in the paperback set in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe, Santa Fe County sheriff officials said.
A Baldwin spokesperson said there was an accident on set that involved the misfire of a propeller gun with spotlights, though a charge without a metal projectile is unlikely to kill at a moderate distance. Sheriff's spokesman Juan Ríos said detectives were investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Baldwin, 63, was seen outside the sheriff's office crying Thursday, but attempts to obtain comment from him were unsuccessful.
Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where medical staff pronounced her dead, the sheriff's department said. Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he is receiving treatment for his injuries.
Production stopped on the movie.
The International Guild of Cinematographers confirmed that the woman fatally shot was Hutchins, a cinematographer.
"Details are unclear at this time, but we are working to obtain more information and support a full investigation into this tragic event," union president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.
Hutchins, a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute, worked as a cinematographer on the 2020 action film “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello. She was named a "rising star" as an American cinematographer in 2019.
“I am so sad to lose Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on set, "Archenemy director Adam Egypt Mortimer said on Twitter. "She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and film."
