A Santa
Fe
County
Sheriff’s
Office
unit is
present
as
police
tape
cordons
off the
scene of
a
shooting
Thursday
at
Bonanza
Creek
Ranch
near
Santa
Fe.
Actor
Alec
Baldwin
discharged
a prop
gun that
killed a
cinematographer
and
wounded
a
director
during
filming.
(RUTERS
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Cinematographer
Halyna
Hutchins,
left,
was
killed
by a
prop gun
fired by
actor
Alec
Baldwin,
right,
on the
set of
the
upcoming
Western
film
"Rust"
in New
Mexico.
(Getty
Images
file
photos) |
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Prop gun
in Alec
Baldwin
accidental
movie
set
shooting
had live
rounds,
police
say
By
Wise
Bread
abqjournal.com
BONANZA
CREEK
RANCH -
The cast
and crew
of the
film
“Rust”
converged
around
cameras
in the
church.
It was
rehearsal
time.
An
assistant
director
grabbed
one of
three
prop
guns
from a
cart
outside
and
brought
it into
the
building.
He
yelled
“cold
gun” –
indicating
it was
not
loaded –
and
handed
it to
Alec
Baldwin,
who was
dressed
in
Western
garb.
The
68-year-old
actor
pulled
the
trigger
and the
gun went
off,
striking
cinematographer
Halyna
Hutchins
in the
chest
and
director
Joel
Souza,
who was
behind
Hutchins,
in the
shoulder.
Cast
and crew
scattered
from the
building
as a set
medic
tried to
stop the
bleeding
and
others
frantically
dialed
911, one
of them
cursing
the
assistant
director
while on
the line
with
dispatch.
Hutchins,
42, died
after
being
airlifted
to an
Albuquerque
hospital.
Souza,
48, was
hospitalized
in Santa
Fe and
released
Friday.
Deputies
recovered
a single
bullet
casing
and
Baldwin’s
bloodied
Western
outfit
as
evidence.
“The
Assistant
Director
did not
know
live
rounds
were in
the prop
gun when
he had
given
the prop
gun to
the
actor
Alec
Baldwin,”
an
investigator
wrote in
court
records.
Those
records
detail
what led
up to
the
deadly
incident
at
Bonanza
Creek
Ranch
and 911
calls
paint a
picture
of the
chaos
that
followed
as crew
members
summoned
emergency
personnel.
In
one
call, a
woman
identifying
herself
as a
script
supervisor
tells
dispatch,
“We’ve
had two
people
accidentally
shot by
a prop
gun; we
need
help
immediately.”
“Was
it
loaded
with a
real
bullet?”
a
dispatcher
asks.
The
caller
replies,
“I don’t
… I
can’t
tell you
that …
And this
(expletive)
AD that
yelled
at me at
lunch –
asking
about
revisions,
this
mother
(expletive)
– he’s
supposed
to check
the
guns,
he’s
responsible
for what
happens
on the
set.”
The
woman
continued,
“We were
rehearsing
and it
went
off, and
I ran
out, we
all ran
out.”
Nobody
has been
charged
in the
incident
and the
Santa Fe
County
Sheriff’s
Office
is
investigating.
Crews
were
filming
“Rust”
on
Bonanza
Creek
Ranch
outside
Santa Fe
at the
time.
“Rust”
is a
Western
centered
around a
teen’s
flight
from
prosecution
for an
accidental
killing.
On
Friday,
the
makeshift
Western
town was
all but
empty as
bright
yellow
crime
scene
tape
cordoned
off the
dusty
old
church
and a
lone
deputy’s
vehicle
idled
nearby.
The
Los
Angeles
Times
reported
Friday
that
there
had been
prior
prop gun
misfires
on the
set and
tensions
had been
rising
for days
over
working
conditions.
A
half-dozen
camera
workers
walked
off the
set in
the
hours
leading
up to
the
incident
and were
replaced
by
nonunion
members,
according
to the
newspaper.
“We,
along
with the
entire
film
community
in New
Mexico,
are
saddened
by the
tragedy
that
happened
on the
set of
‘Rust’
yesterday.
We send
our
deepest
condolences
to the
family
of Ms.
Halyna
Hutchins
and are
keeping
positive
thoughts
for a
complete
recovery
for Mr.
Joel
Souza,”
the New
Mexico
Film
Office
said in
a
statement
Friday.
“The
safety
and
well-being
of all
cast,
crew and
filmmakers
in New
Mexico
is a top
priority
at all
times.”
According
to a
search
warrant
affidavit
filed
Friday
in Santa
Fe
County
Magistrate
Court:
Deputies
responded
around
1:50
p.m. to
an
accidental
shooting
inside
an Old
West-style
building
at
Bonanza
Creek
Ranch.
Hutchins
was
transported
by
helicopter
to the
University
of New
Mexico
Hospital,
where
she
died,
and
Souza
was
taken to
Christus
St.
Vincent
Regional
Medical
Center.
Deputies
learned
the
armorer
on set
had laid
out
three
prop
guns on
a cart
outside
the
building.
The
assistant
director
grabbed
one of
the guns
and
brought
it to
Baldwin,
who was
inside
with the
cast and
crew.
A prop
firearm
discharged
by
veteran
actor
Alec
Baldwin,
who is
starring
and
producing
a
Western
movie,
killed
his
director
of
photography
and
injured
the
director
Thursday
at the
movie
set
outside
Santa
Fe.
(John
Minchillo/AP)
The
assistant
director
yelled
“cold
gun” and
handed
it to
Baldwin
before
the
actor
fired
the gun
once,
hitting
Hutchins
and
Souza.
The
armorer
was
given
back the
gun,
took out
the
single
casing
and gave
both to
deputies
once
they
arrived.
The
gun and
“other
prop-ammunition”
was
placed
into a
deputy
vehicle.
“Due
to
filming
equipment
being at
the
scene,
affiant
would
like to
confirm
if the
incident
that
took
place
was or
wasn’t
recorded,”
a deputy
wrote in
the
complaint.
Baldwin,
who was
dressed
in
Western-style
clothing,
changed
into
street
clothes
and left
the
scene.
His
outfit
appeared
to have
blood
stains
on it
and was
given to
deputies.
Photos
taken by
the
Santa Fe
New
Mexican
on
Thursday
showed a
distraught
Baldwin
talking
on the
phone
after
the
incident
and
doubled
over,
his
hands on
his
knees,
in a
parking
lot near
deputy
vehicles.
Baldwin
went on
Twitter
Friday
morning
to say
he is
heartbroken.
“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,”
Baldwin
posted
on
Instagram
Friday
morning.
“I’m
fully
cooperating
with the
police
investigation
to
address
how this
tragedy
occurred
… ”
In
his
post,
Baldwin
said he
is in
touch
with
Hutchins’
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,”
he
wrote.
The
movie,
produced
by
Baldwin,
also
stars
Baldwin
and
Jensen
Ackles,
among
others.
It
tells
the
story of
a
13-year-old
boy who
must
fend for
himself
and his
younger
brother
following
the
death of
their
parents
in 1880s
Kansas,
according
to the
Internet
Movie
Database
website.
The teen
goes on
the run
with his
long-estranged
grandfather,
played
by
Baldwin,
after
the boy
is
sentenced
to hang
for the
accidental
killing
of a
local
rancher.
Journal
city
editor
Martin
Salazar
and
Journal
staff
writer
Dan
McKay
contributed
to this
report.
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