Alec Baldwin's 'prop firearm' kills one, injures another

Sheriff's office: Alec Baldwin discharged prop gun that killed crew member, wounded director

Baldwin is one of the film's star actors and producers. He went to the sheriff's office willingly and provided a statement to investigators, sheriff's office spokesman Juan Ríos said.

www.santafenewmexican.com

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Actor Alec Baldwin discharged a "prop firearm" that killed a cinematographer and injured a the director of the movie Rust, being filmed on a set south of Santa Fe, a county sheriff's office spokesman said late Thursday.

Halyna Hutchins, 42 and the director of photography for the movie, died at University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque. The film's director, Joel Souza, was hospitalized in Santa Fe, Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Juan Ríos said.

A source closed to the investigation said Baldwin, 63, was questioned by investigators late Thursday and was seen by a New Mexican reporter and photographer in tears.

Investigators are still trying to determine if the incident was an accident, Ríos said. No charges have been filed, and the investigation remains open, Ríos wrote in a news release.

The prop was fired at Bonanza Creek Ranch, where filming was underway, the sheriff's office said in an early evening news release. Baldwin stars in the production.

Hutchins died from her injuries after she was flown to University of New Mexico Hospital, according to the sheriff's office. Souza was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he is receiving emergency care, the sheriff's office said. Attempts to get comment from Baldwin were unsuccessful.

“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, the president of the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600, and Rebecca Rhine, the executive director, said in a statement, as reported by 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.”

Deputies were investigating how the accident occurred and "what type of projectile was discharged," the sheriff's office said in an earlier news release.

Rust Movie Productions did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Filming for Rust was set to continue into early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office. It's described as the story of a 13-year-old boy left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, with New Mexico doubling for Kansas.

Guns firing blanks have been blamed for deaths in past movie productions. Online Hollywood news site Deadline reported, "Actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed Oct. 18, 1984, on the set of the TV series Cover Up when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a gun loaded with blanks. And in 1993, Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died after he was shot in the head by a gun firing blanks on the set of The Crow. Both incidents were determined to have been accidents."

This is a developing story and will be updated.

 

[Mike Stoklasa]

I also think that all parties involved should be drug tested.

Hey! Drug testing is only for poor people. You don't want these people to become unable to find future employment, do you?

 

[BobbyBriggs69420]

I'm beginning to think my far fetched supposition that some idiot used the prop gun to go target shooting during the down time

I think I read something about a fanny pack found during a search that did have actual real ammo in it. I'm not even sure what to call it other than "actual real ammo" with all the high-verbal-iq-word-games being played with terms like prop gun cold gun and whatnot. Also It's been days and pages ago itt and I've not seen it mentioned again but there was something posted about some type of movie employee bringing kids along to the set and letting the kids go plinking with movie-guns and actual real ammo.

 

[SITHRAK!]

I'm not even sure if that's been confirmed or that it wasnt another case of hot rounds in a """cold""" gun. It's single action. Hammers dont cock themselves, and if it was supposed to be a "hot" gun, they shouldnt be running around with cocked hammers on live chambers anyway until it needs to be fired, no matter how rock-solid the weapon (I'm pretty sure those things dont have "safeties"). These articles for the most part are written by firearm-ignorants and tend to mix terminology. And with all the CYA going on, until a real firearm professional goes on record as saying the gun was fault (and why it was at fault), I'm going with more human error.

If it is the Pietta replica, as has been reported, it has a transfer bar safety, making it impossible to discharge with anything other than a deliberate hammer-cock and trigger pull. It’s a pretty much idiot-proof safety design. But unfortunately, when you make something idiot-proof, nature just designs a better class of idiot, as we’ve seen here.
This is looking less and less optimistic for Hall, Gutierrez-Reed and Baldwin. The sheer number of fuckups required to have coalesced into this cyclonic shitstorm of dipshittery is beyond belief.

Wonder how soon Baldwin is going to start blaming the weapon instead of himself?

 

[BobbyBriggs69420]

If it is the Pietta replica, as has been reported, it has a transfer bar safety, making it impossible to discharge with anything other than a deliberate hammer-cock and trigger pull.

I don't know too much about revolvers but is a transfer bar safety something the original colt would not have had? Would it be something that someone would remove if they're wanting to do some fanning shots like for a western movie?

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

I don't know too much about revolvers but is a transfer bar safety something the original colt would not have had? Would it be something that someone would remove if they're wanting to do some fanning shots like for a western movie?

Originals didn't have transfer bars. Basically before the transfer bar if you had the hammer resting on a shot, it could fire it without being cocked back but simply if something knocked against the hammer.

It's why actual cowboys, from what I've heard, only carried five shots in their six shooters in the old west.

 

[Particle Bored]

Even if the gun malfunctioned, alec baldwin is still at fault for sweeping people and not clearing it himself.

True, but I was referring to the previous two (some reports say three) unintentional discharges, by Baldwin's stunt double.

I'm beginning to think my far fetched supposition that some idiot used the prop gun to go target shooting during the down time then didn't bother to remove the hot round left over when they placed it back is close to the truth. Then neither the Armorer or the AD bothered to check the gun before they OK'd it and gave it to Baldwin.

Who the hell goes target shooting and doesnt expend the full cylinder/magazine anyway?

If it is the Pietta replica, as has been reported, it has a transfer bar safety, making it impossible to discharge with anything other than a deliberate hammer-cock and trigger pull. It’s a pretty much idiot-proof safety design. But unfortunately, when you make something idiot-proof, nature just designs a better class of idiot, as we’ve seen here.

I stand corrected. Looks like those actually have a couple different potential safety mechanisms depending on specific model. And these fuckwits bypassed them all.

I don't know too much about revolvers but is a transfer bar safety something the original colt would not have had? Would it be something that someone would remove if they're wanting to do some fanning shots like for a western movie?

On revolvers with a transfer bar, the hammer doesnt have a little spike that hits the cartridge primer. Instead it has a captured firing pin that strikes the primer. The transfer bar is a tab that, when the trigger is pulled, rises up between the hammer and the firing pin. The hammer hits the tab, which hits the firing pin. If the tab isnt raised by pulling the trigger, the hammer cant touch the firing pin. The original Colt would not have had one, but even with a transfer bar one could still hold down the trigger, holding the bar up, and fan the hammer.

 

[RurkerHivemind]

There are some choice retards here ITT that should NEVER handle a gun.

 

[SITHRAK!]

is a transfer bar safety something the original colt would not have had?

The Colt Single Action Army didn’t have a transfer bar, nor did it have the ability to rest the hammer on a ‘safety notch’ between rounds on the back of the cylinder, as was common with many other wheelguns of the day. The hammer would rest directly on the cap/primer, meaning that knocking the hammer too hard could cause a discharge. It was not a particularly safe weapon at all.

 

[Irrational Exuberance]

I think I read something about a fanny pack found during a search that did have actual real ammo in it. I'm not even sure what to call it other than "actual real ammo" with all the high-verbal-iq-word-games being played with terms like prop gun cold gun and whatnot. Also It's been days and pages ago itt and I've not seen it mentioned again but there was something posted about some type of movie employee bringing kids along to the set and letting the kids go plinking with movie-guns and actual real ammo.

You'll find that the term "live" ammo rolls off the tongue better - as in "alive".

 

[whoishomermynameis]

 

[SITHRAK!]

View attachment 2665075

“It’s okay bro, .45/70 Government doesn’t have much recoil” (joking, looks more like 30/30 from the ammo on the table).

How the fuck can an “armorer” worth their salt watch people adopt a stance like this? HOW?

What’s even more interesting is that the hammer’s forward, the trigger’s fully to the rear, but there’s no clear evidence of recoil or smoke. Not sure what the fuck is going on here but it’s weird AF. My guess? Maybe dry-firing, but why? Training? And why have ammo at hand during a dry-firing/training exercise? My brain is full of fuck at this photo.

EDIT: oh, and I love the masks. Safety first, kids!

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

View attachment 2665075

I'd be cringing even if that was a .22

 

[Mike Stoklasa]

Alec Baldwin death poll!!

Over/under set at two weeks from today: November 10, 2021.

You taking the over or the under?

 

[Nobunaga]

Six blanks. More than enough to kill any cinematographer that moves.

 

[ShortBusDriver]

“It’s okay bro, .45/70 Government doesn’t have much recoil” (joking, looks more like 30/30 from the ammo on the table).

How the fuck can an “armorer” worth their salt watch people adopt a stance like this? HOW?

What’s even more interesting is that the hammer’s forward, the trigger’s fully to the rear, but there’s no clear evidence of recoil or smoke. Not sure what the fuck is going on here but it’s weird AF. My guess? Maybe dry-firing, but why? Training? And why have ammo at hand during a dry-firing/training exercise? My brain is full of fuck at this photo.

EDIT: oh, and I love the masks. Safety first, kids!

Female sailor shooting an M14.

Anyway that lever action is probably a .44, look at the white box, rifle ammo wouldn't come packed like that and it's far too short for 30/30.

 

[RodgerDodger]

I think I read something about a fanny pack found during a search that did have actual real ammo in it. I'm not even sure what to call it other than "actual real ammo" with all the high-verbal-iq-word-games being played with terms like prop gun cold gun and whatnot. Also It's been days and pages ago itt and I've not seen it mentioned again but there was something posted about some type of movie employee bringing kids along to the set and letting the kids go plinking with movie-guns and actual real ammo.

“Bullets”

 

[SITHRAK!]

Female sailor shooting an M14.

Anyway that lever action is probably a .44, look at the white box, rifle ammo wouldn't come packed like that and it's far too short for 30/30.

Jesus Christ. At least an M14 has something to absorb some of the recoil. And I agree, in retrospect, that those aren’t 30/30, so your guess is probably accurate.

 

[A_throwaway_name62919]

Who the hell goes target shooting and doesnt expend the full cylinder/magazine anyway?

At a guess, people who are shooting at bottles/cans and have run out of bottles and cans. Especially if they have a limited amount of time before they need to return the borrowed gun they're using.

 

[MadStan]

Even if the gun malfunctioned, alec baldwin is still at fault for sweeping people and not clearing it himself.

Well good luck with arguing that as at the DA cause it ain't gonna fly in a court. The DA isn't even going to go down that road. This is so far from criminal negligence on the actors behalf that it won't even make the rounds as a possibility.

How about we talk about the 2 fuckheads - Hall and Hannah that were actually paid to say the guns as safe and yelled "cold gun". Where criminal negligence is not only apparent, but blatant.

Do you think perhaps they are worthy of a mention?

Or do you just wanna bash Baldwin cause you hate him? He isn't going to be charged.

 

[Not Really Here]

[Sperging]

By every normal gun safety standard Baldwin was at fault.
Everyone in the thread is aware that speds, including DA's and juries, will make excuses for the rich and white Baldwin, that's why you are the only one talking about criminal charges.

Calm down.