SANTA FE, N.M. (Reuters) – Alec Baldwin was handed what was described as a safe “cold gun” on the set of his movie “Rust”, but the prop gun contained live rounds when it was fired, according to details of the police investigation into the fatal shooting released on Friday.
The shot hit cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the chest, and director Joel Souza who was sitting behind her, in the shoulder, according to a county sheriff’s affidavit filed in Santa Fe magistrates court.
Hutchins died of her wounds and Souza was injured but has since been released from a local hospital.
The assistant director who handed Baldwin the prop gun did not know it contained live rounds, the affidavit by Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department Detective Joel Cano said.
Baldwin said on Friday he was in shock over the accidental shooting as reports emerged of walk-outs on the “Rust” set earlier in the week over unsafe conditions.
The star of “30 Rock” and “The Hunt for Red October” said he was “fully cooperating” with authorities to determine how the incident occurred on Thursday.
Production on the movie was immediately shut down. The sheriff’s department said no charges had been filed and the investigation remained open. Baldwin voluntarily gave a statement about the shooting, the sheriff’s department said.
Baldwin said, “my heart is broken,” in his statement posted on Twitter.
“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 in a statement on Twitter.
“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.”
(Reporting by Adria Malcolm in Santa Fe, Alexandra Ulmer in San Francisco and Bhargav Acharya in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Brendan O’Brien and Don Pessin; Writing by Joseph Ax and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Karishma Singh, Noeleen Walder, Muralikumar Anantharaman, Mike Collett-White, Gareth Jones and Daniel Wallis)
Comments