On Thursday, Oct. 21, actor Alec Baldwin was involved in a fatal incident on the set of the upcoming film “Rust.” While handling a prop gun, live ammunition was accidentally fired from the gun, injuring director Joel Souza, 48, and killing director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42. Baldwin and his family are staying in Manchester, Vt., while the investigation into the incident is ongoing.
Baldwin released a statement on Twitter the day following the incident in which he wrote, “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic incident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.”
The accident occurred on Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, N.M. According to CNN, director Souza told investigators that Baldwin was practicing a cross draw when he “heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop.” He remembered Hutchins “complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection” before falling to the ground and “saying she couldn’t feel her legs.”
Souza told investigators that he was under the impression that there was no live ammunition on set, nor should there have been. Everybody involved has claimed the same thing — that they heard that the gun was “cold,” meaning it should have been empty.
According to a search warrant affidavit, assistant director David Halls was the last person to handle the gun before handing it to Baldwin and yelling “cold gun.” Halls has been the subject of multiple complaints over the years, including a similar incident on set of his 2019 film, “Freedom’s Path.” In a parallel series of events, Halls was assistant director when a prop gun on set “unexpectedly discharged,” causing production to be halted.
There were reportedly safety concerns on the set of “Rust” prior to the tragic death of Hutchins. According to CNN, three crew members stated that “they were concerned for the safety of crew and cast members on set even before the incident.” These safety concerns include two prior accidental prop gun discharges.
The armorer on set, responsible for teaching actors how to handle firearms, as well as the one who prepared the gun for Baldwin, was identified as Hannah Gutierrez.
Due to the ongoing investigation, Baldwin is not permitted to speak on any legal matters. He did, however, speak to paparazzi where he and his family are staying as the investigation runs its course. A video of the interaction can be seen on TMZ’s website. In it, Baldwin calls Hutchins his friend and states that the film crew was a “well oiled crew shooting a film together, and then this horrible event happened.” He mentions that he has been in contact with Hutchins’ husband, who is “overwhelmed with grief” and that he and his family are “eagerly awaiting for the sheriff’s department to tell us what their investigation has yielded” on this “one in a trillion event.”
In 1993, actor Brandon Lee, son of the legendary Bruce Lee, died at 28 on set of “The Crow” in a similar prop gun-related incident. While uncommon, accidents such as this are not unheard of. His family offered their condolences in a tweet.
