Alec Balwin shares his grief after accidentally killing cinematographer with live bullet

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A distraught Alec Baldwin said on Friday there are ‘no words to convey his shock and sadness’ after accidentally shooting and killing the female cinematographer on the set of his new movie Rust, and that he was cooperating fully with the police investigation into what happened. 

Baldwin accidentally killed Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old married mother-of-two and the Director of Photography on his new movie on a ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday at 1.50pm. 

He is believed to have fired a single round from a prop gun that somehow struck both Hutchins and the movie’s director, 48-year-old Joel Souza. 

Witnesses cited by Showbiz 411 said the single bullet struck Hutchins in the body, and pierced Souza’s clavicle.  Hutchins was airlifted to the hospital but was pronounced dead. Souza was taken to the hospital by ambulance but was released on Thursday evening. 

Baldwin, 63, was taken to the sheriff’s department to be questioned. He was released without charge after giving a tearful interview. Afterwards, he was photographed doubled over in shock and grief as he spoke on the phone. 

In two tweets on Friday, Baldwin said described the shooting as a ‘tragic accident.

‘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. 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,’ he said. 

Hutchins’ grieving husband Matthew told DailyMail.com on Friday morning that he had spoken with the actor. 

‘I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive,’ he said.  

It remains unconfirmed if it was a live round or a blank that was fired; a prop masters’ union described it on Friday morning as a ‘live round’ and Baldwin was heard asking people around him why he’d been handed a ‘hot gun’. 

‘In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun,’ he was heard saying. 

A spokesman for both the film production and Baldwin said on Thursday night that it was an accident involving a ‘gun loaded with blanks’.  

It is common on movie sets for actors  to use real guns loaded with blanks or dummy bullets to give a more lifelike effect in shooting. But it remains unclear how a blank could have killed Hutchins, or how a live round accidentally ended up in the gun’s chamber when Baldwin pulled the trigger. 

The movie’s prop master – who is ordinarily in charge of the weapons – has not yet been named. Last month, actor Jensen Ackles told a conference in Denver how he’d been able to ‘choose’ his own gun from the female armorer in a haphazard training session. 

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‘They had me pick my gun. They were like, “Alright, what gun would you like?” I was like, “I don’t know”, and the armorer was like, “Do you have gun experience?” I was like, “A little”, she was like, “This is how you load it…check it’s safe. Do you want it hip drawn or cross drawn?” I was like “cross drawn, that sounds fun”.’ 

‘So she’s like, “I’ll just put some blanks in there and just fire a couple of rounds towards the hill.”

‘I walk out and she’s like, “Just make sure you pull the hammer all the way back and aim at your target”. 

‘I was like alright I got it,’ he said. 

The female armorer has not been named.  

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Department has not given any updates since announcing on Thursday that Baldwin was who fired the gun. 

The department said he cooperated with deputies in interviews and was released without charge. 

The investigation into what happened is ongoing and more members of the crew are expected to be interviewed throughout the day. 

It’s unclear where Baldwin is now. There was no sign of his wife, Hilaria, outside their New York City apartment on Friday but a nanny was pictured loading up their SUV. 

Police have disclosed few details about the shooting, saying only that a ‘projectile’ was fired by a ‘prop gun’ and they are investigating.  

Prop masters union IATSE 44 told members on Thursday night in an email that a ‘live’ round was fired.  

DailyMail.com has also obtained a portion of the 911 call that was placed from the set. In the three-second long clip , a woman can be heard saying: ‘We have two people accidentally shot.’ 

According to witnesses on-set, Baldwin was stunned after firing the fatal round and asked: ‘Why was I handed a hot gun?’ Deadline cites production sources who said he didn’t know what kind of ammunition was used.  

It’s unclear where the union got the information that the round fired by Baldwin was a live one, since none of its members were on the movie set. 

It was able to confirm from the call sheet that the props department for the film was staffed with local New Mexican crew, not Hollywood pros. 

‘A live single round was accidentally fired on set by the principal actor, hitting both the Director of Photography, Local 600 member Halnya Hutchins, and Director Joel Souza.

‘Local 44 has confirmed that the Props, Set Decoration, Special Effects and Construction Departments were staffed by New Mexico crew members.

‘There were no Local 44 members on the call sheet,’ Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Pawluc said in the email, according to IndieWire. 

Immediately after firing the fatal shot, Baldwin asked why he’d been handed a ‘hot’ gun, according to Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411.  

The production employed ’73 New Mexican crew, 22 New Mexico principal actors, and 230 New Mexico background talent’ according to a press release issued earlier this month. 

According to the prop masters’ union email, the ‘Props, Set Decoration, Special Effects and Construction Departments were staffed by New Mexico crew members’ – none of whom belonged to the union. 

The tragedy is reminiscent of the 1993 accident on the set of The Crow, when Bruce Lee’s son Brandon was shot and killed by a fellow actor. 

The film crew in that accident thought the gun was loaded with dummy bullets and blanks, but an autopsy revealed Lee had a .44 caliber bullet lodged in his spine. Investigators in that shooting also probed the theory that a dummy cartridge got stuck in the barrel before the second was fired – a known hazard in shooting which can cause serious injuries or death when the second round is fired. 

Rhys Muldoon, an Australian actor who has worked extensively in film and TV, also suggested that a blank misfiring close to the camera could have caused Thursday’s accident – telling the BBC that material from the blank round could have struck Hutchins before causing part of the camera to hit Souza.  

Mike Tristano, 60, a Hollywood armorer with 30 years’ experience who spoke to the Dailymail.com, said ultimate responsibility for gun safety on movie set rests with the armorer. 

The movie’s armorer or weapons master has not been been named. Sante Fe Sheriff’s Department says it will continue to interview ‘witnesses’ on Friday. 

‘There should have been blanks in the gun, the on-set armorer’s job is to check that before handing the weapon over,’ Tristan said.

‘They then make sure that the actor stands on a mark and never points the gun at the crew or cast… the editing makes it seem like they were pointing at their co-actor.

‘That’s why everyone in the industry is very confused. How this happened is a total mystery at the moment.’

Tristan added that he has worked with Baldwin before, on the set of 1998 film Thick as Thieves, calling him ‘very safe’ and a ‘total professional’. 

‘I was surprised to hear it was him,’ he added. 

Director James Cullen Bressack said afterwards he would never use blanks on his film sets again.

‘I will never use anything but airsoft and rubber guns on my movies ever again. This should never have happened. Halyna, you were a gem.  This is so f****d up,’ he said. 

Actress Frances Fischer, who is part of the Rust crew, also confirmed that blanks were being used for the stunt.   

Baldwin was taken for questioning by sheriff’s deputies after the fatal shooting, but was not arrested and has not been charged.

The sheriff’s department says its investigation is ongoing. 

He was pictured outside the sheriff’s office doubled over with grief, and weeping while speaking on the phone. He refused to speak with a reporter from the New Mexican who was at the scene.  

Filming of the movie – about a boy who is wrongly accused of murder, and which Baldwin is co-producing – has been indefinitely suspended while cast and crew recover. Counseling services are being offered, producers said. 

Hutchins was Ukrainian-born and grew up in the USSR before studying journalism and working on ‘British documentary productions in Europe’, according to her personal website.

She subsequently moved to Los Angeles where she changed career to become a cinematographer, studying a two-year fine arts Masters at the AFI Conservatory between 2013 and 2015.

Social media posts suggest she gave birth to a son around the same time – who appears to have been born either late 2012 or early 2013.

The boy appears to be her only child with husband Matthew Hutchins, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who worked as an associated with firm Kirkland & Ellis until 2017. It is unclear what his current job is.

Baldwin is a co-producer on the film, in which he plays infamous outlaw Harland Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder. 

It was not immediately clear whether the prop gun that killed Hutchins was somehow loaded with real bullets, or if the gunpowder used in theatrical blank cartridges may have launched debris of some kind from the barrel. No further information has been offered on how Baldwin managed to strike two people, with the sheriff’s office continuing to investigate. 

Representatives for Baldwin, Souza, and Rust’s executive producer did not immediately respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com late on Thursday. 

Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin’s spokesperson issued a statement to People on the shooting, saying: ‘There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.’

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Rust Movie Productions LLC, which is producing the film, said: ‘The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today’s tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna’s family and loved ones.

‘We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department’s investigation. 

‘We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event.’

‘We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department’s investigation. We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event’

Hutchins’ devastated friends were too distraught to talk, but Ariel Vida, a production designer who worked with the director of photography on 2020 film Archenemy confirmed her death to DailyMail.com, tearfully adding: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this right now.’ 

No criminal charges have been filed, but police said that a criminal investigation into the incident is currently active to determine the circumstances of Hutchins’ death. 

‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said in a statement. 

‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.’ 

‘The incident remains an active investigation. As more information becomes available, updates will be provided,’ he added. 

Filming for Rust was set to continue through early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office, but production has now been halted on the film.

The movie is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, according to a synopsis. 

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. 

Baldwin stars in the film alongside Travis Fimmel, Jensen Ackles and Frances Fisher. 

Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin posted an Instagram photo from the Bonanza Creek Ranch, showing him in full costume, with fake blood on his abdomen. The photo was captioned: ‘Back to in person at the office. Blimey…it’s exhausting.’

His wife Hilaria also shared a screen grab from a FaceTime conversation with Baldwin earlier in the day, where he appears to be riding in a car on his way to the ranch.

The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western News of the World.

After the fatal shooting at the movie ranch, a 2017 tweet of Baldwin’s resurfaced, in which he responded to video of a police shooting in California by writing: ‘I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone…’ 

That police shooting was later ruled justified. 

Following Thursday’s tragedy, friends took to Hutchins’ Instagram page to leave tributes underneath a video filmed two days ago that showed her riding a horse on her day off.

James Cullen wrote: ‘I will miss you my friend. This is devastating.’

Another friend Jack Caswell added: ‘I feel like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me. You will be so missed’ while Tina Presley Borek said: ‘Heartbroken.’ 

‘I’m so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set,’ said Archenemy director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter. ‘She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film.’ 

The International Cinematographers Guild also lamented Hutchins’ untimely death in a statement.

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

The tragic shooting death is reminiscent of the 1993 death of Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow, where a bullet that was lodged in the barrel of a prop gun was propelled out by a blank round, killing him.

‘Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust,’ tweeted Brandon Lee’s sister Shannon from a tribute account dedicated to her brother. ‘No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.’

Hutchins, who lived in Venice Beach, California, was considered one of Hollywood’s rising stars – named in a list of cinematographers to watch in 2019 by American Cinematographer.

The daughter of a soldier, Hutchins grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle before going to college in Ukrainian capital Kiev.

She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master’s degree in cinematography and switching to movies.

Her credits include horror film Darlin and, shortly before starting work on Rust, she had completed filming on Blindfire – a crime drama starring Brian Geraghty and Sharon Leal.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office says it responded to the movie set at around 1.50pm after a 911 caller indicated someone had been shot in the arm.

‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,’ the statement added. 

Police said that a 42-year-old female, later identified as Hutchins, was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. 

The director, Souza, was rushed by ambulance to Cristus St. Vincent’s Hospital where he is being treated for injuries. He was released last night.

‘There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,’ read a statement from Rust Movie Productions LLC. 

‘Two crew members have been taken to the hospital and are receiving care. Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,’ the statement concluded. 

Albuquerque’s KOB 4 news anchor Tessa Mentus tweeted a photo from her network’s chopper, showing a church set blocked off.

‘@santafesheriff  investigating incident at #Rust movie set on Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe. 

‘Pic from #Chopper4 shows an old church set blocked off, and set security confirms its lockdown,’ Mentus tweeted.

Another KOB 4 reporter, Giuli Frendak, shared a photo of a security gate, adding, ‘Security guard at the entrance to the set of Rust’, a western movie in production in #SantaFe, told us the set is on lockdown right now. Couldn’t share anything else. 

‘Waiting for more details from Santa Fe Sheriff on today’s incident near Bonanza Creek.’

The fate of Rust is now up in the air following the tragic shooting. Baldwin is a co-producer on the film and plays infamous outlaw named Rust, who goes on the run with his grandson. 

Ackles plays a U.S. Marshal, and Fimmel plays a bounty hunter who are on the pair’s tail as Rust tries to break his grandson out of prison. 

An unexpected bond forms between the outlaw and his estranged grandson as they go on the run.

CAA Media Finance and Highland Film Group were launching sales on the film at last year’s Cannes virtual film market, with Baldwin producing through his El Dorado Pictures banner alongside Anjul Nigam and executive producer Matthew Helderman.

Baldwin and Nigam produced Souza’s previous feature, 2019’s Crown Vic. 

Anna Granucci is also producing with Elizabeth L. Barbatelli as an executive producer.

New Mexico is a busy film location, and the Bonanza Creek Ranch has previously hosted star-studded productions including Hostiles, Cowboys & Aliens, 3:10 to Yuma, Appaloosa and Longmire.

It is not the first time that a prop gun has killed someone during the filming of a movie. 

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie The Crow. 

The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine. 

In that case, an investigation determined that a bullet became lodged in the barrel of the gun when the crew failed to properly deactivate the primer in a dummy cartridge, which is supposed to look like a real bullet but be inert. 

Later, the gunpower in a blank cartridge, which creates the sound and muzzle flash of gunfire for film, propelled the stuck bullet out of the gun’s barrel, striking Lee. 

In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series Cover Up. 

In that case, the paper wadding used to secure the gunpowder in the blank cartridge was expelled with enough force to shatter his skull near the temple, sending fragments into Hexum’s brain and causing massive hemorrhaging.