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.

 

[BikeLock]

He settled with her husband by giving him an Executive Producer credit on Rust. Not even joking.

That's legit funny as fuck.

 

[ZipDisk]

The EP credit was also supposed to net the widower 3 million New Mexican subsidy dollars.
New Mexico welched on the money, the dude will definitely sue Baldwin in civil court again, and likely win on the "Alec Baldwin Producer is responsible for Alec Baldwin Actor's actions because it's his name on the production." The state Prosecutor attempted this in the criminal trial and was told to fuck off with that argument because it is a civil argument, not a criminal argument.

This prosecutor is an epic fuckup, but the part that fascinated me the most about the whole "cold gun" thing is that actors are actively told NOT to do a weapons check because they are not the armorer and can fuck the gun up. (like the feds did)

They also have to ignore the "never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy" because that would fuck up the camera angles.

Hollywood actors are legitimately trained to handle firearms incorrectly. This places responsibility for the weapon on the armorer, who has already been tried and convicted for being a nepo fuckup.

They really should have hired her dad, his career is incident free.

 

[Orc-Chud]

Hitler would’ve found him guilty

 

[Golden Boy]

I listened to the trial, the prosecutor was an accident waiting to happen. She had very low emotional intelligence, and would get aggressive with state witnesses. When she was told to tone down the aggression, she would just be condescending. There’s not a good bone in her body. What should’ve been an easy case (the armorer is already in jail) was totally fucked up, first by losing the ability to call Baldwin a producer and finally by trying to deny rights for the accused. This dumb bitch probably commits brady violations daily against the dregs of society, but she’s got hollywood royalty. She’s way too full of herself to do things the right way, and god forbid she ever becomes a judge.

I think Baldwin murdered that woman and should be held accountable. But this prosecutor was ty beard levels of “it’s already over”.

 

[MadStan]

based on the evidence as it stands in this case? there's no doubt in anyone's mind that alec baldwin pointed a gun at a man and pulled the trigger. if a cop does the same thing, and there was no reason to have done so? or he did it 'as a joke'? no, fuck that cop too. fuck anyone who plays around with gun safety. there's no wiggle room here. do not ever, under any circumstances, with zero exceptions, point a firearm at anything you do not want to kill or destroy. it's not a fucking toy, it's something that with one second's movement, as you say an accident, can yank someone's life away from them, and them away from their family and loved ones. they should be handled with care and respect, not pointed at someone as a joke, because as everyone learned when alec baldwin killed that person, all it takes is one careless mistake.

you can rehash the interpretation of events, but it will always be that a gun never intent to ever fire munitions was used as a prop, and live rounds were entered into the set by the person responsible for ensuring only non-live rounds were there. She failed. And bears direct responsibility for it. I am amazed that people to this day somehow think she is innocent and Alec is guilty.

When use an electrical outlet installed by an electrician you assume it safe 0- but you'd never really check it other than casually.. But per the haters logic, if it is my house, and the electrician rigs the outlet wrong, and I let my daughter use it, because as a father I didn't check it is was safe, I'm a murderer.

People in chemical plants all the time are using equipment that has been serviced as certified as safe, are we to now say that the user - for not having checked dit themself, are ergo liable for the damage?

You had an armorer, she had one job. Instead she acted like a child, got high, got drunk, and had live rounds laying around because she thought she was hot shit and it could never happen.

She fucked up. Alec should have checked the gun. The fact he didn't doesn't make him a murderer.

 

[frari]

I didn't think he should get that slammed, because in the end it comes down to the armorer that gave a a hot weapon and said it's cold. He should've gotten at least something though cause he was her boss and you know any regular fool would've at least gotten years of deferred probation.

I agree, I know everyone has a hard on for alec baldwin, but come on now. He was acting a scene, someone gives him a gun which he's told is empty, so he uses it.

 

[X Prime]

Well every prominent leftist is a murderer though, without exception. They are complicit with what goes on at the southern border after all.

 

[Stoneheart]

Yeah this is totaly normal, why does alec walk while young nigger is still on trial? the corruption in that trial is just insane...
have the DA and the Judge talk to a witness...

 

[innocent jogger]

I wonder if he will get the South Park treatment AGAIN? The last one was pretty funny.

 

[Atomic Ant]

I listened to the trial, the prosecutor was an accident waiting to happen. She had very low emotional intelligence, and would get aggressive with state witnesses. When she was told to tone down the aggression, she would just be condescending.

It's the kind of thing that makes you wonder if some districts dont keep a total jobber on the bench to assign the case to whenever they want it fucked up.

 

[Dr J]

I listened to the trial, the prosecutor was an accident waiting to happen. She had very low emotional intelligence, and would get aggressive with state witnesses. When she was told to tone down the aggression, she would just be condescending. There’s not a good bone in her body. What should’ve been an easy case (the armorer is already in jail) was totally fucked up, first by losing the ability to call Baldwin a producer and finally by trying to deny rights for the accused. This dumb bitch probably commits brady violations daily against the dregs of society, but she’s got hollywood royalty. She’s way too full of herself to do things the right way, and god forbid she ever becomes a judge.

I think Baldwin murdered that woman and should be held accountable. But this prosecutor was ty beard levels of “it’s already over”.

Again, intentional. They needed to let Baldwin go (major celebrity, major Democrat donor, leftist darling) but couldn't risk the bad publicity of not actually charging him and couldn't risk the unpredictability of letting it go to a jury. So the easiest solution is just to get an incompetent prosecutor

I agree, I know everyone has a hard on for alec baldwin, but come on now. He was acting a scene, someone gives him a gun which he's told is empty, so he uses it.

So he doesn't have fucking common sense? Again, even if the armourer was a fucking idiot and the prop guy was a fucking idiot, he could and should have had common sense enough to negate their idiocy by checking the gun for his damn self. I mean, for fuck's sake, they'd had live ammo incidents on the set not hours before

This prosecutor is an epic fuckup, but the part that fascinated me the most about the whole "cold gun" thing is that actors are actively told NOT to do a weapons check because they are not the armorer and can fuck the gun up. (like the feds did)

They also have to ignore the "never point the weapon at anything you do not intend to destroy" because that would fuck up the camera angles.

Hollywood actors are legitimately trained to handle firearms incorrectly. This places responsibility for the weapon on the armorer, who has already been tried and convicted for being a nepo fuckup.

I mean, from a legal standpoint, isn't this more of a 'If somebody told you to jump off a bridge, would you do it?'

 

[ZipDisk]

The thing is they are literally trained to say yes, if the movie requires it. During the Blue Orange era, an actor was smashed between a car and a train because he trusted the production. He's a plate head now. (I think it was maze runner? all those YA movies kind of were the same shit)

Below the line workers are literally treated as disposable. I remember a case where they put production crew on an ACTIVE railroad trestle. Same as it ever was, a "production assistant" ate a train.

The whole "Cold Gun" thing sounds retarded as fuck to anyone who understands basic firearm safety, but it's a fucking leap of faith for the hollyweird. I think that may have been a big part of the disconnect, Baldwin doesn't understand that the production action is not the same thing as real life. The rule I've always lived by is "If the firearm is assembled. It's loaded."

I actually do wonder what the actual legal precedent is on shit like this. It's improper firearm handling, but like I said in my previous comment, they have to treat the guns as props to get the movie made. I fully believe that this was an attempt to figure out indoor lighting or some Hollywood shit, they weren't even shooting at the time. (Phrasing)

The court TV guy is yelling his head off because he got blueballed on what was likely blocked out as their case of the summer. His argument is that the trial should have proceeded to Jury, specifically because he wanted this gone through procedurally.

The Problem is Court TV guy is flat out wrong. You can't proceed with a case when the prosecutor spikes it. I don't even necessarily think a fix was in here, I think the Prosecutor had a massive hard-on and never stopped to think. (I am aware she is a woman).

Just like people think she gave him a pass, I honestly think she Ahabbed the fucking case because she wanted that conviction on her wins record.

 

[DrearyDoomguy]

She fucked up. Alec should have checked the gun. The fact he didn't doesn't make him a murderer.

Seriously, the fact that they tried to criminally charge him is mind-boggling to me. Sure, he bears a significant degree of culpability for the fuck-up and absolutely should get raked over the coals in civil court, but murder charges? He had no reason to believe that the gun had live ammo in it. Directors and producers would be scared shitless to even have guns in their movies.

The whole "Cold Gun" thing sounds retarded as fuck to anyone who understands basic firearm safety, but it's a fucking leap of faith for the hollyweird. I think that may have been a big part of the disconnect, Baldwin doesn't understand that the production action is not the same thing as real life. The rule I've always lived by is "If the firearm is assembled. It's loaded."

If someone wanted to go after him in civil court they'd have no shortage of ammo. No pun intended.

 

[Shiversblood]

This judge needs to be arrested for this.

 

[Pizdec]

The biggest case of your career against the biggest defendant you'll ever face?

And you fuck up so bad on basic procedure they dismiss with prejudice?

How did you not have your "I"'s dotted and quintuple-checked?

The competency crisis is real.

Isn’t this the second fucking time the state botched their case against Baldwin, too? I remember the last time was because they tried so hard to pin him for it that it became a public spectacle that the prosecutor wanted to prove that big city boys (something to that effect) were not immune to the law and poisoned the case.

 

[Sammich]

Hopefully this sends the right message. Nepo babies that suck at their job get what they fuckign deserve. I find it extremely hard to not kneel before KING alec, dude roughs up faggot journos and kills scumbag left whores armourers are inept at their jobs.
.
Seriously though, how many times did they try to overcharge this guy only to get fucked in the ass. 2? 3?

 

[AnOminous]

I've always thought this was a case where so many people fucked up in so many different ways that pinning some crime on one person was bullshit. I get hating Alec Baldwin but this wasn't a criminal homicide. It was just a series of unfortunate events that while it rightly deserves immense amounts of civil liability, was just not actually a crime, much like Brandon Lee's tragic death in The Crow.

Even the absolutely insane shit Landis did in the Twilight Zone deaths was worse than this.

I think everyone involved should have to pay, but I don't think anyone involved committed an actual crime.

Still, great jerb prosecutor on bungling an incredibly high profile case on a Brady violation. I'm sure that will help this fuckwad's career.

This judge needs to be arrested for this.

Bullshit. If anyone needs to lose their job it's the incompetent prosecutor who absolutely fumbled the ball on a basic Constitution issue where if you fuck it up, your case gets thrown out entirely. There is no excuse for a basic Brady fuckup in this day and age. The prosecution doesn't get to play hide the salami with evidence that says the defendant is not guilty.

 

[Dr J]

The Problem is Court TV guy is flat out wrong. You can't proceed with a case when the prosecutor spikes it. I don't even necessarily think a fix was in here, I think the Prosecutor had a massive hard-on and never stopped to think. (I am aware she is a woman).

Just like people think she gave him a pass, I honestly think she Ahabbed the fucking case because she wanted that conviction on her wins record.

We'll have to agree to disagree. The DA's office there dragged their feet massively on charging him and under charged him in my opinion. He should have been charged with murder and he should have been charged three years ago (a normal person would have been). It's clear they wanted to give him an out but didn't want to risk the bad publicity of just straight up dropping the charges, especially since there's no statute of limitations on murder and a Republican challenger to the office could easily campaign on putting Baldwin in prison.

He had no reason to believe that the gun had live ammo in it.

Unless he checked the cylinder, found no live ammo in the cylinder and then live ammo appeared, as if by magic, between him checking the cylinder and him firing the weapon, he had every reason to believe the gun had live ammo in it.

Directors and producers would be scared shitless to even have guns in their movies.

There have been guns in movies for nearly a hundred years and there have only been four major gun incidents in film, all caused because people were being fucking idiots with them. These kinds of things don't happen if you obey basic gun safety.

Clint Eastwood never shot anybody with a 'prop' gun. John Wayne never shot anybody with a 'prop' gun. I could go on

I get hating Alec Baldwin but this wasn't a criminal homicide

Yes, it was negligent homicide. New Mexico literally has this in their statute, you're still liable for homicide if you fire a gun you believe not to be loaded at someone because it's your responsibility to make sure the weapon isn't actually loaded.

 

[MadStan]

Keep an eye out for the armorers case. This government misconduct could easily result in a retrial if not her immediate release. Her attorneys will be with a petition probably by tomorrow

 

[mlanguishi]

There have been guns in movies for nearly a hundred years and there have only been four major gun incidents in film, all caused because people were being fucking idiots with them. These kinds of things don't happen if you obey basic gun safety.

I had to look it up, and the best list I could find only sums up this window, but there's been a lot more over time to put it in perspective. I've seen some people saying ban guns enitrely from movie sets (not on here, but some other places)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_and_television_accidents

From 1980 to 1990, there were 37 deaths relating to accidents during stunts; 24 of these deaths involved the use of helicopters.[1] According to an article by the New York Times following the fatal shooting incident on the film set of Rust, there have been at least 194 serious accidents in American television and film sets from 1990 to 2014, and at least 43 deaths, quoted by Associated Press.[

Like usual people pick of the man bites dog stories and go on and on about them. But there's been so few lethal gun accidents it's really just a fraction of deaths from stunts. Looks to me like if they might want to consider banning helicopters. The big one there was of course Twilight Zone. I guess it's like plane crashes. You don't hear about the 99.99999% that don't crash but those tiny amount that do are huge deals. A lot of phobias are like this in general, most big story stuff makes the news because it's rare. The endless car wreck deaths won't make any news media really unless it's some major pileup.