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.

 

[X Pac Heat]

because as I said, the gun is given to the actor, it is fired for the purpose of the shot, and it is given back to the props manager/safety manager and it is then inspected and locked up until the actors and crews need it again for the next take. I know he wasn't fucking with it because there are multiple people whose job it is to ensure Alec was not just fucking around with the gun.

if he was fucking around with the gun, the union people on set would be losing their mind and he would be in for some huge penalties/fines. that shit doesn't fly.

Dude, the weapons masters job is to specifically clear the gun and make sure it's cleared of anything that could discharge.

When are you faggots going to learn that the majority of people are bad at their fucking jobs, and just because you're in the industry in question that doesnt change?

 

[beautiful person]

if he was fucking around with the gun, the union people on set would be losing their mind and he would be in for some huge penalties/fines. that shit doesn't fly.

The local union said this film's prop master wasn't a member of their union. Makes me think there just weren't union people on set. Also, it's a low-budget film, so they likely didn’t have as many people to make up a proper chain of command. A lot more room for something to fuck up, which it did.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Imagine surviving a childhood in the Soviet arctic only to be shot dead by Alec Baldwin after getting to America and making a pretty successful life for yourself. Hollywood couldn't even come up with a story like that.

Shit like this makes me seriously wonder, given the statements Baldwin made & getting exactly what he wished for; like a tulpa or something.

 

[Crazedking]

Yeah, you'd think film productions would be extra sensitive of this after Brandon Lee.

You'd think Baldwin would be extra sensitive of this after his many sperg outs over firearms.

Just goes to show the ones that hate them the most are the biggest idiots.

Im actually surprised this shit doesnt happen more often. Is this rly the first accidental prop gun death since brandon lee? (in professional film making context) Im sure plenty of youtube wannabe stars have killed people.

 

[Abradolfus_Linclerson]

Re: Props Master on set being a scab: was this really an accident, or the Props Union announcing that they don’t care how limited your budget is, you will use Union labor…OR ELSE?

 

[BradCarter]

Can anyone with more knowledge of how this is done explain how they "plug" a gun so it is supposedly non-operational? My understanding was they pour molten lead into the barrel, and it actually bonds to the barrel. The plug, from what I understand is supposed to be strong enough that the gun will blowback/backfire before the plug would give way in the event that someone actually tried to fire it.

If you completely plug the barrel you couldn't fire blanks out of it. It could cause the gun to explode in your hand. The pressure from the gunpowder in the blank has to go somewhere. It'll create a path if it doesn't have one.

 

[RurkerHivemind]

Eh, how does on die from blanks?

I think it was the same way Brandon Lee died.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

How someone can die from blanks/"prop gun"

In brandon lees case, there was a bullet that was stuck in the barrel of the gun so when the blank fired, it pushed the bullet out. (or some sort of obstruction, I believe it was a stuck bullet though)

Even then, a blank is still a controlled explosion so at a close enough range it will injur/kill you.

 

[Pocket Dragoon]

Can anyone with more knowledge of how this is done explain how they "plug" a gun so it is supposedly non-operational? My understanding was they pour molten lead into the barrel, and it actually bonds to the barrel. The plug, from what I understand is supposed to be strong enough that the gun will blowback/backfire before the plug would give way in the event that someone actually tried to fire it.

Semiauto & automatic stage guns have been made for a long time now that are impossible to load with live ammo, and have a barrel roughly the diameter of a BB gun (sometimes noticable, depending on design & post-processing budgets). But they're more expensive because purpose-made blanks arent cheap, and are generally made from normal firearms which also drives up costs (both for rentals & one-off examples).

However, revolvers are different; a much narrower or plugged barrel will cause a massive blast from the cylinder gap. Even with blanks, they can easily remove parts of fingers or faces that get too close, which is common in the movies.

This is why starter-pistols have a cylinder with a very large gap between the chambers & barrel, so the discharging blank has someplace to go & not get squeezed through a narrow gap at higher velocity.

 

[The handsome tard]

Jokes aside, I legit hope Alec recovers (his politics aside) since it was an accident and all.

But then again, I do wonder if he would do the same if it was someone he didnt like in the same position....Probably not.

 

[Getting tard comed]

Re: Props Master on set being a scab: was this really an accident, or the Props Union announcing that they don’t care how limited your budget is, you will use Union labor…OR ELSE?

I doubt this was the props union or any other union being machievellian in killing another behind the camera person that is also in on the potential strike to try and force people into union labor. This was an accident whether Baldwin was being dumb or not, there is no world in which a gun should be loaded on a set. Someone probably didn't clear the chamber because they probably didn't check the chamber.

It will be used as that though. And for an industry barely staying afloat as is having to pay the people who do everything what they are actually worth... that's gonna be a problem.

 

[spinch]

Can anyone with more knowledge of how this is done explain how they "plug" a gun so it is supposedly non-operational? My understanding was they pour molten lead into the barrel, and it actually bonds to the barrel. The plug, from what I understand is supposed to be strong enough that the gun will blowback/backfire before the plug would give way in the event that someone actually tried to fire it.

Most prop guns used for film are just real guns, and they use a 'blank'. A blank is essentially a bullet without the tip so that only the gunpowder pops. You get the nice recoil and the flash of the gunpowder igniting, but usually nothing flies out of the barrel.

Defective blanks have been known to maim/kill but blanks have generally gotten safer over the years. Using CGI is a good option as well, but takes away some realism, so it makes sense they were using a real gun for a western.

 

[BradCarter]

I'm assuming the set had medical personnel on standby, most do right? So in order for him to kill a girl with what we can safely assume isn't a bullet he would of had to have shot her in the head or neck. Bullets don't quickly kill you if they don't hit anything vital. So my mental picture is Alec leveling the gun at this girls head behind the camera and squeezing the trigger. Yes it's the prop guys fault but holy fuck anyone who has handled real guns couldn't bring themselves to squeeze a blank off while pointing the gun at someone's head.

 

[RodgerDodger]

How someone can die from blanks/"prop gun"

In brandon lees case, there was a bullet that was stuck in the barrel of the gun so when the blank fired, it pushed the bullet out. (or some sort of obstruction, I believe it was a stuck bullet though)

Even then, a blank is still a controlled explosion so at a close enough range it will injur/kill you.

In Brandon Lee's case it wasn't a bullet. It was a wooden prop bullet that was used for scenes involving loading the gun. The wooden tip of one of the bullets broke off in the barrel so when they swapped in the blanks it became a wooden projectile.

 

[spinch]

Those same peoples jobs are to ensure that the gun doesn't actually have anything in it, as well...

When are people on the internet going to learn that just because someone has a job, doesn't mean they do their job particularly well?

I'm not saying they did it well. I'm simply saying it wasn't Alec's fault. When you're in the entertainment industry you have to live and die by union rules. It happens to be an IATSE rule that the prop master and safety managers are the only ones that check the weapon. Alec has to trust that those people did that because he can get in trouble and delay the shoot by checking it himself unless it was part of something they were filming. (I.E. reloading the gun for a shot) If he were to open the chamber, they could accuse him of tampering with the gun and they would need to re-check it and bring it back out.

 

[Neil]

Jesus Christ, may the poor woman rest in peace.

I also feel bad for Baldwin too. The trauma of accidentally killing someone at point blank range must be fucking unbearable. Wouldn't be surprised if the film gets cancelled or he retires after this. I remember TMZ and the paparazzi almost pushing him to suicide a decade ago over a previous controversy in the 2000s.

Trump Twitter melting down
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Christ, how sociopathic. These bastards have had their minds so twisted by current year politics that they immediately jumped to use Hutchins' corpse to get in an epic pwn on Alec Baldwin because he did a mean impression of their Lord and Saviour, Donald Trump.

Fuck all of these shameless hack frauds.

 

[spinch]

Unless you were there you have no idea if proper protocol was followed. Especially when one of the stars of the film is a producer of the film who is one of the reasons the film got funding to be made in the first place.

Maybe you haven't heard but a lot of films are being made with non-union people right now in many positions due to the upcoming strike.

So no, you don't know he wasn't playing with it or angry, or intoxicated, or any combination that led to this event. I seriously don't understand how this even happens. In what configuration does the DP(most likely behind a camera or looking at a tablet near the camera) and the director(most likely at a kiosk away from everything watching on a monitor) both get shot? None of that sounds like protocol as normal.

Edit: The local prop union announced the guy handling props for this production wasn't a member. 50/50 odds on the person being non-union due to what's going on in the entertainment industry + the budget for this film.

ah fuck if he wasn't an IATSE member he's going to PRISON lmao.

 

[Milwaukee Macho Man]

I'm not saying they did it well. I'm simply saying it wasn't Alec's fault.

No, what you were saying is that there was no possible way Alec was being reckless because it's someones job to make sure he isn't reckless, the same person who should have made sure there wasn't anything within the barrel of the gun.

I agree, if Alec wasn't drunk or handling it recklessly it isn't his fault, but if he was yeah then yeah he bears some responsibility. There is so little information and there is no way for us to know anything yet.

Edit: If Alec was the producer of this film, I'd argue using non union workers would probably actually leave him with liability at the very least.

 

[Blacklight]

Watching Tim Pool chimp out about gun safety on this is amazing.

 

[Getting tard comed]

Jesus Christ, may the poor woman rest in peace.

I also feel bad for Baldwin too. The trauma of accidentally killing someone at point blank range must be fucking unbearable. Wouldn't be surprised if the film gets cancelled or he retires after this. I remember TMZ and the paparazzi almost pushing him to suicide a decade ago over a previous controversy in the 2000s.

Christ, how sociopathic. These bastards have had their minds so twisted by current year politics that they immediately jumped to use Hutchins' corpse to get in an epic pwn on Alec Baldwin because he did a mean impression of their Lord and Saviour, Donald Trump.

Fuck all of these shameless hack frauds.

Disagree 100% when you're a dick and an asshole in most of your public life when you fuck up or experience hardships you should expect and it is warranted for people to kick you while you're down.

Extra when you're a hypocritical asshole.