Actor Alec Baldwin, 63, discharged a prop gun in an apparent accident Thursday on a movie set, killing one person and injuring another, according to local authorities. One of the people who was shot, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, has been pronounced dead.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office said Thursday the shooting happened at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set during work for “Rust,” an independent project that stars Baldwin, according to Deadline. Joel Souza, 48, the writer and director of “Rust,” was also shot in the incident and has been hospitalized at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
Juan Rios, a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, told the Albuquerque Journal that the apparent movie scene that they were filming “involved the use of a prop firearm,” which discharged. “Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,” he said.
According to the Santa Fe New Mexican, “[a] source close to the investigation said Baldwin, 63, was questioned by investigators late Thursday and was seen by a New Mexican reporter and photographer in tears.”
The investigation remains ongoing, and authorities said no charges have been filed. The full sheriff’s department statement reads:
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set of the western “Rust,” October 21, 2021, when an 911 caller reported a shooting on the set.
The sheriff’s office confirms that two individuals were shot on the set of Rust. Halyna Hutchins, 42, director of photography and Joel Souza, 48, director, were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin, [63], producer and actor.
Ms. Hutchins was transported, via helicopter, to University of New Mexico Hospital where she was pronounced dead by medical personnel. Mr. Souza was transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center where he is undergoing treatment for his injuries.
This investigation remains open and active. No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives.
In a statement, leadership for the International Cinematographer’s Guild, Local 600, called the incident “devastating.”
“We received the devastating news this evening, that one of our members, Halyna Hutchins, the Director of Photography on a production called ‘Rust’ in New Mexico died from injuries sustained on the set,” John Lindley, president of the guild, and Rebecca Rhine, executive director of the guild, in a statement, reports Variety. “The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event. This is a terrible loss, and we mourn the passing of a member of our Guild’s family.”
IMDb offers the following synopsis of “Rust,” which has now been halted: “A 13 year-old boy, left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880’s Kansas, goes on the run with his long estranged grandfather after he’s sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.”