Sheriff’s office: Alec Baldwin discharged prop gun that killed crew member, wounded director | Local News
ACtor Alec Baldwin fired a “prop gun” on a film set south of Santa Fe Thursday, killed the cameraman for the film he was working on and wounded its director, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office said.
Baldwin, 63, was seen talking on the phone in front of the sheriff’s headquarters and was crying. No charges were brought, according to a press release from the sheriff’s office late Thursday night.
Rust’s cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, died in the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, and director Joel Souza, 48, was rushed to Christ St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for emergency care. said the sheriff’s office.
Baldwin is both one of the stars of the film and a producer. He willingly went to the sheriff’s office and made a statement to investigators, said sheriff’s office spokesman Juan Ríos.
“We are treating this like any other investigation,” said Ríos, adding that MPs were still trying to determine if it was an accident.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office responded to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting on a movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch Thursday.
The prop was fired at Bonanza Creek Ranch, where filming was in progress, the sheriff’s office said in a press release earlier that evening. The set was locked while MPs began their investigation.
Attempts to get comment from Baldwin outside the sheriff’s office have been unsuccessful. The state film bureau and the Santa Fe Film Office declined to comment.
MPs investigated how the incident took place and “what type of projectile was fired,” the sheriff’s office said in a press release.
In a statement, Rust Movie Productions said, “Production has been suspended for the time being” on Rust and “the safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,” said Deadline.
The response to the incident came late Thursday.
Fran Drescher, President of the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, and National Union Executive Director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland made a statement: “We are devastated by this tragic news. Our hearts go out to the family of the late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and the injured and hospitalized director Joel Souza. This is still an active investigation and we do not have all the facts. We will continue to work with production, the other unions and the authorities to investigate this incident and understand how this cannot happen again. “
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office responded to a shooting Thursday on a movie set at Bonanza Creek Ranch. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office says actor Alec Baldwin’s prop gun killed a woman and injured the director.
Hutchins was a Los Angeles-based camerawoman from Ukraine who, according to her website, grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle.
She holds a degree in International Journalism from the Kiev National University in Ukraine and has worked as an investigative journalist for British documentary film productions in Europe.
She graduated from the American Film Institute Conservatory in 2015 and became a Rising Star for the American Cinematographer in 2018 and as a camerawoman for the 21st Century Fox DP Lab in 2018, her website says.
Hutchins most recently worked as a cameraman for the feature film Archenemy with Joe Manganiello, Blindfire, a racially charged cop drama with Brian Geraghty, and Darlin ‘, a horror film.
Hutchins was also a member of the International Cinematographers Guild, Local 600.
In a post on Facebook on Tuesday, Hutchins’ page featured a photo showing the cast, including Baldwin, on the set. It said: “Our IATSE position of solidarity with RUST.”
Souza is a filmmaker from the San Francisco Bay Area. He previously directed the American action film Crown Vic, a feature film produced in 2019 after the life of a Los Angeles Police Department officer who hunted two police murderers at large, according to IMDB.
Baldwin is listed as a writer for Rust alongside Souza.
In previous film productions, accidental discharges or cannons firing empty guns have been blamed for deaths.
According to entertainment news site Deadline, “Actor Jon-Erik Hexum was killed on the set of Cover Up on October 18, 1984 when he accidentally shot himself in the head with a blank-loaded gun. And in 1993, Brandon Lee, son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, died after he was shot. … Both incidents were accidents. “
A desperate Alec Baldwin lingers in the parking lot outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office Thursday after being questioned about a shootout on the set of the film Rust. The sheriff’s office said a prop gun Baldwin was using killed a crew member and wounded the director.
According to a press release from the state film office, shooting for Rust should continue until the beginning of November.
It is described as the story of a 13-year-old boy who had to care for himself and his younger brother in Kansas after his parents died in the 1880s, with New Mexico doubling down for Kansas. Baldwin plays the outlaw Rust.
Several famous productions have taken place at Bonanza Creek Ranch including Hostiles, Cowboys & Aliens, Wild Hogs, 3:10 to Yuma, and Longmire. It has a city of 24 buildings suitable for western films.
Baldwin is considered one of the most versatile actors in television and film.
A member of a well-known acting family and Oscar nominee, he’s won multiple Golden Globe, Emmy, and Screen Actors Guild awards and has been a staple on Saturday Night Live for his mockery of former President Donald Trump in recent years.
New Mexican reporter Phaedra Haywood contributed to this story.
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