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.

 

[FatFlamingo]

Alec Bangwin

 

[Troonos]

Murder one. Give this faggot the chair.

 

[HarveyMCR]

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I mean mate, this is tragic, and I feel awful for her and her family, but if it was literally just a prop gun that was handed to him, and he was told "point it at the camera and pull the trigger" then how can you blame the guy? A life was already lost today, why are you trying to ruin another for an accident that was not necessarily his fault?

Edit: As someone else said, if he broke safety protocols and haphazardly pointed it at the assistant not thinking it could be dangerous, then yeh, maybe involuntary manslaughter charges are in order. However, this cow specifically said he doesn't care/know if it was negligent or not.

 

[Absurdist Laughter]

This is what happens when people from Democrat Hell Holes get guns. Even if it is a blank round, you never point it at someone. Leave the equipment in place and look at the scene from a monitor behind the actor. If anything else, use the oldest trick in the book, a mirror! Frame up the shot through a mirror and have the actor fire at it. The whole production deserves to be sued or settled.

Edit: There we go, fixed it for Scar Joh.

 

[Scarlett Johansson]

This is what happens when Californians get guns. Even if it is a blank round, you never point it at someone. Leave the equipment in place and look at the scene from a monitor behind the actor. If anything else, use the oldest trick in the book, a mirror! Frame up the shot through a mirror and have the actor fire at it. The whole production deserves to be sued or settled.

That is all well and good but he's actually a New Yorker....

 

[Absurdist Laughter]

That is all well and good but he's actually a New Yorker....

What's the difference?

 

[Beautiful Border]

This is what happens when Californians get guns. Even if it is a blank round, you never point it at someone. Leave the equipment in place and look at the scene from a monitor behind the actor. If anything else, use the oldest trick in the book, a mirror! Frame up the shot through a mirror and have the actor fire at it. The whole production deserves to be sued or settled.

It's people who have the least respect for guns who tend to be the least safe around them. I've never seen a "pro-gun" person hold a gun with the muzzle pointed at someone, for instance. Meanwhile look at Dianne Feinstein holding an AK horizontally with her finger hovering over the trigger.

Because they automatically regard guns as evil and dangerous by default they're less likely to take steps to be safer while handling them.

 

[Dog-O-Tron 5000v5.0]

Are they going to have to put a message that pops up during the credits that says "People were harmed in the making of this film"?

Lol this film will never see the light of day (or a projector). Too bad though, I was looking forward to it--less for Baldwin and more for seeing Ragnar from Vikings and Dean from Supernatural.

 

[StarkRavingMad]

As others have already said, the Trump Curse is a total bitch. Didn't Alec Baldwin say once that Trump "has blood on his hands?" Hoo boy, does life come at you fast!

Also, we know so little information at the moment. At face value, it looks like a props issue. However, Alec has a history of substance abuse and anger issues. Apparently, hours before the shooting happened, he had even posted some shit on Instagram about how "tiring" it was to be on set, or something.

Was Baldwin directed to point the gun in the general direction of the director/camera? That's the question right there. If not, then ... Oh man.

I feel really bad for the victim. Talk about a senseless death. Don't feel sorry for Baldwin whatsoever, though. He's a piece of shit, and now he's a piece of shit with a body count. Fuck that sanctimonious twat. We all know that he's already calling everyone on his PR team to turn this into a sob story about him.

 

[Beautiful Border]

Lol this film will never see the light of day (or a projector). Too bad though, I was looking forward to it--less for Baldwin and more for seeing Ragnar from Vikings and Dean from Supernatural.

Nah, if Brandon Lee dying didn't stop The Crow then I don't see why this would be any different

 

[kobebyarlant]

You know Trump never straight up murdered a woman.

 

[Smug Cat]

View attachment 2647574You know Trump never straight up murdered a woman.

Sauce?

 

[Phalanges Mycologist]

In case anyone is wondering how this might have happened, if you have anything in the barrel of a weapon and you fire a blank round, that thing will become a really shitty "bullet" itself. No it won't function like an actual round, but it absolutely can be lethal.
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If I had to make a guess as to what happened, they were using a semi-auto and had some sort of plug in the barrel which you would need to allow the weapon to cycle properly and that plug came loose and acted as a bullet.

I think that's the case as well, I know there was some safety issues with the BFA issued with the L85A2/3 where the BFA retention failed and sent a lather large lump of steel flying nobody was killed or hurt that I know of but after a number of discharges the retention was weakened and it became a possibility so they had to recall them.

From what I have read that this killed one person and harmed another I am guessing that the weapon's plug was discharged acted like a slug at close range caused the fatal trauma and over penetrated and slammed into someone behind her.

I mean mate, this is tragic, and I feel awful for her and her family, but if it was literally just a prop gun that was handed to him, and he was told "point it at the camera and pull the trigger" then how can you blame the guy? A life was already lost today, why are you trying to ruin another for an accident that was not necessarily his fault?

Edit: As someone else said, if he broke safety protocols and haphazardly pointed it at the assistant not thinking it could be dangerous, then yeh, maybe involuntary manslaughter charges are in order. However, this cow specifically said he doesn't care/know if it was negligent or not.

There has to be some serious investigation into this to find out exactly what happened I am guessing the armourer on set didn't check the weapon properly leading to this happening. However if he broke the law or safety regulations he needs punishment and I'd be hard pressed to find a gun owner who would disagree.

Because they automatically regard guns as evil and dangerous by default they're less likely to take steps to be safer while handling them.

That happens all the time and not just with Firearms, ever seen someone who takes electricty safety carelessly? Wet hands using plugs etc, or someone who doesnt use tools often and uses a hammer with a loose head etc? More accidental deaths happen a year from people who don't follow basic safety precautions than anything else.

 

[Spicey McHaggis]

It's literally a props issue. The gun wasn't supposed to be loaded with live rounds.

Here's the thing. Blanks are still lethal to around 2 feet out. Even if it's loaded with blanks and you know it, you need to pretend it's loaded with live rounds. The hot gas is coming out of the barrel of that gun at a minimum of several hundred feet per second if not much faster, which is more than enough to penetrate skin. The laws of physics are cruel and unforgiving.

 

[Absurdist Laughter]

Sauce?

Sweet n sour please. Also, anything using a pyrotechnic effect shouldn't be called a prop. A prop gun is made of rubber but a gun intended to fire a bullet, blank or not, is not a prop; it's a firearm.

 

[FlappyBat]

Sauce?

Google isn't bringing up anything with his name and "on-set source".

 

[Yuri_]

We can't just punish a celebrity as big as Alec Baldwin, can we?

LET HIM WALK FREE

 

[The Emperor Skeksis]

Good god, Lemon.

 

[Gravityqueen4life]

watch as he gets away with it.

 

[Pee Cola]

If this isn't an argument for stricter gun control laws in the Hollywood film industry, idk what is.