Actor Alec Baldwin is cooperating with a police investigation into the circumstances surrounding the firing of a prop gun that killed a photography director and wounded the director of a movie being filmed near Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday afternoon.
According to KRQE, the Santa Fe sheriff’s office said Baldwin was using the prop gun when a single live round was accidentally fired on the set of the movie “Rust” being filmed at the Bonanza Creek Ranch. Halyna Hutchins, 42, was rushed to the University of New Mexico hospital where she died from her injuries. Deputies said the other person shot was director Joel Souza, 48. He was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe where he received medical treatment before reportedly being discharged Thursday night.
Baldwin, who stars in and produced the movie, released a statement on Twitter Friday:
“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother, and deeply admired colleague of ours. I’m fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”
Detectives are investigating how the prop gun was fired, how live ammunition was in the gun, and what type of projectile was discharged, according to KRQE. No charges have been filed.
Sheriff deputies were sent to the set of "Rust" at 1:50 MST on Thursday after receiving a 911 call that someone had been shot.
Written by Souza, "Rust" centers on an infamous Western outlaw with a bounty on his head when his 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder and sentenced to hang. "Rust" (Baldwin) breaks the boy out of a Kansas prison and the two try to outrun lawmen trying to recapture them.
Production of the movie has shut down indefinitely.