Alec Baldwin On Fatal Movie Set Shooting Of Director Of Photography Halyna Hutchins: 'There Are No Words'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Actor Alec Baldwin released a statement Friday after one crew member was killed and a second wounded when he discharged a prop gun on a movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The shooting occurred on the set of the independent Western movie "Rust."
The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office confirmed that 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins, the director of photography, and 42-year-old Joel Souza, the director, were shot when Baldwin discharged the prop firearm at about 1:50 p.m. Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set.
Hutchins was rushed to a hospital, where she died. Souza survived his injuries.
"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 wrote on Twitter. "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."
The Santa Fe New Mexican shared photos of a distraught Baldwin outside the sheriff's office following the shooting.
No criminal charges have yet been filed in the incident. Baldwin is a producer on the film.
Sheriff's spokesman Juan Rios told The Associated Press that detectives were investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.
"If someone actually put a live round in there, No. 1, that shouldn't have been on set, and No. 2, they should have visually inspected the gun first with a pencil down the barrel and a flashlight to make sure there's no obstruction in the mechanism," veteran movie prop master Bill Davis told CBSLA Thursday. "And No. 3, they need to inspect the round that's going in there. So it sounds to me, if someone actually got killed, which they did, that would have to be a live round of ammunition."