Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot while working on the set as director of photography. She was flown to hospital by helicopter but died of her injuries. Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

Region:: USA
Category:: Entertainment
Publication date:: Friday, October 22, 2021 - 07:55

Hollywood actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer and wounded a director when he discharged a prop gun on a movie set in New Mexico on Thursday, authorities said.

A woman has died and a man has been injured after actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a New Mexico film set for the 19th Century western Rust.

Halyna Hutchins, 42, was shot while working on the set as director of photography. She was flown to hospital by helicopter but died of her injuries.

The man, 48-year-old director Joel Souza, was taken from the scene at Bonanza Creek Ranch by ambulance.

Police said they were investigating and that no charges had been filed.

A spokesman for Mr Baldwin, best known for his role as Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock and for his portrayal of Donald Trump on sketch show Saturday Night Live, said the incident involved the misfiring of a prop gun with blanks.

"He came in voluntarily and he left the building after he finished his interviews," the spokesman said.

Mr Baldwin is a co-producer of the film and plays its namesake, an outlaw whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of manslaughter.

The eldest of four brothers, all actors, Mr Baldwin has starred in numerous TV and film roles since the 1980s.

Ms Hutchins was from Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle, according to her personal website. She studied journalism in Kyiv, and film in Los Angeles, and was named a "rising star" by the American Cinematographer magazine in 2019.

She was the director of photography for the 2020 action film Archenemy, directed by Adam Egypt Mortimer.

"I'm so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set," Mr Mortimer said in a tweet.

In a statement, the International Cinematographer's Guild said Ms Hutchins' death was "devastating news" and "a terrible loss".

"The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event," said guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine.

Police said sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location, at around 13:50 local time (19:50 GMT) after receiving an emergency call about a shooting on the set of Rust.