By Canadian Press

Sheriff: Baldwin fired prop gun that killed cinematographer

Oct 22, 2021 | 9:32 AM

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) – Officials say actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on the set of a Western and killed the cinematographer.

The director of the movie was wounded, and authorities are investigating what happened.

Halyna Hutchins, cinematographer on “Rust,” and director Joel Souza were shot Thursday in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe.

A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.

Santa Fe County Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said detectives were investigating what type of projectile was discharged and how.

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No immediate charges were filed.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Baldwin was seen Thursday outside the sheriff’s office in tears, but attempts to get comment from him were unsuccessful.

The 63-year-old actor is known for his roles in “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” as well as his impression of former President Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live.”

Prop guns fire blanks, gunpowder charges that produce a flash and a bang but not a hard projectile.

But when the trigger is pulled, the paper or plastic wadding is ejected from the barrel with enough force that it can be lethal at close range, as proved to be the case in the death of an actor in 1984.

In another on-set accident in 1993, the actor Brandon Lee – son of martial arts star Bruce Lee – was killed after a bullet was left in a prop gun.

The 42-year-old Hutchins was airlifted to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Souza, who is 48, was taken by ambulance to a medical center.

International Cinematographers Guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement that the details are unclear at this moment, but they are working to learn more, and support a full investigation into this tragic event.

Rios says sheriff’s deputies responded about 2 p.m. to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 calls described a person being shot there.

The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western “News of the World.”

Hutchins, a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute, was named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer in 2019.

The Associated Press