Report: Alec Baldwin Was Practicing Holstering His Prop Gun When He Shot, Killed Halyna Hutchins
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) – Actor Alec Baldwin was practicing unholstering his prop gun when he fired it and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the Western film "Rust" last week in New Mexico, according to a search warrant obtained by the Los Angeles Times.
According to the affidavit, the 63-year-old actor was rehearsing removing the gun from its holster and aiming it at the camera when it went off.
Per the affidavit, assistant director Dave Halls had handed Baldwin the prop gun and yelled that it was a "cold gun," meaning it was not loaded with live ammunition, the Times reports.
Along with Halls, the gun was also handled by armor Hannah Gutierrez Reed, the Times reports. Reed had purportedly brought three guns to the set on a rolling cart, one of which was handed to Baldwin, according to the search warrant.
The 42-year-old Hutchins, the "Rust" director of photography, and 42-year-old Joel Souza, the film's director, were shot when Baldwin discharged the prop firearm at about 1:50 p.m. Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
According to the affidavit, Hutchins was hit in the chest and Souza in the shoulder.
Hutchins was taken by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she died, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office reports. She leaves behind a husband and young son.
Souza survived.
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Earlier in the day Thursday, prior to the shooting, several camera operators and assistants had walked off the set to protest working conditions, the Times reports.
Several crew members also told the Times that on Oct. 16, Baldwin's stunt double accidentally fired two rounds from a gun he had also been told was cold.
Meanwhile, the producers for "Rust," of which Baldwin is one, have suspended production indefinitely.
In a letter to the crew Sunday obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, the producers of the film wrote that they have decision to wrap the set at least until the investigations are complete."
In the letter, according to THR, they described the suspension as a "pause rather than an end."