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