Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

[NVP]

A woman has died and a man has been injured after actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a New Mexico film set.

Police in the US state said Mr Baldwin discharged the weapon during filming for the 19th Century western Rust.

The woman was taken to hospital but died of her injuries. The man, the film's director, was receiving emergency care.

Detectives are investigating the incident at Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location.
The woman has been named as 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins, who was working as director of photography. The man being treated is Joel Souza, 48, the film's director.

Police said their investigation remains open and active, and no charges have yet been filed in relation to the incident.

Ms Hutchins was a graduate of the American Film Institute and had been named a "rising star" by American Cinematographer magazine in 2019.

In a statement to Variety magazine, the International Cinematographer's Guild said Ms Hutchins' death was "devastating news" and "a terrible loss".

Police said sheriff's deputies were dispatched to Bonanza Creek Ranch at around 13:50pm MST (19:30 GMT) after receiving an emergency call about a shooting on set.

Mr Baldwin, 68, is a co-producer of the film and plays its namesake, an outlaw named Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-59005500

Ignoring the potential irony of the plot... how can you kill someone with a prop gun? I'm assuming a prop gun is fake and simply fires blanks or potentially something which makes the muzzle flash, but perhaps I'm wrong.

Anyone with more knowledge of film prop firearms care to enlighten me?

Also, how did he shoot the directors? I suppose if he's aiming towards camera it is understandable the aim would be towards them, but surely they wouldn't be that close to the discharge.

If the prop gun is legitimate, then would there be potential for related charges of accidental death due to negligence?

 

[NVP]

Brandon Lee suffered a similar fate when filming The Crow, in that case somebody forgot to remove the primers from the dummy rounds.

Oh mad, I always thought someone swapped out the guns or maybe I've been fooled by a conspiracy theory my whole life.

Depending on the circumstances, blanks/dummy rounds can be just as deadly as an actual bullet.

Because of the explosion or is there also something physical which ejects like a projectile?

 

[NVP]

Why have you put a silly colour for the quoted text? Can’t read it.

Sorry, it must have copied across from the BBC article - didn't notice it on my phone. I've changed it now, is it better?

 

[NVP]

Looks like it was a straight copy/paste from a website with black on white. I've edited it so it's actually readable.

Snap

 

[NVP]

The headline is awful, makes it sound like he meant to kill her.

1. No it doesn't, it is non-specific
2. How do you know he didn't?

 

[NVP]

Looks like me after light jog...

 

[NVP]

Hours before actor Alec Baldwin fatally shot a cinematographer on the New Mexico set of “Rust” with a prop gun, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions.

The camera operators and their assistants were frustrated by the conditions surrounding the low-budget film, including complaints of long hours and getting their paychecks, according to three people familiar with the matter who were not authorized to comment.

...

“Corners were being cut — and they brought in nonunion people so they could continue shooting,” the knowledgeable person said.

There were two misfires on the prop gun on Saturday and one the previous week, the person said, adding “there was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set.”

...

“As many of us have already heard, there was an accidental weapons discharge on a production titled Rust being filmed in New Mexico,” said the North Hollywood-based local. “A live single round was accidentally fired on set by the principal actor, hitting both the Director of Photography, Local 600 member Halyna Hutchins, and Director Joel Souza. Both were rushed to the hospital,” the email said.

A source close to union said Local 44 does not know what projectile was in the gun and clarified that “live” is an industry term that refers to a gun being loaded with some material such as a blank ready for filming.


https://www.latimes.com/entertainme.../alec-baldwin-rust-camera-crew-walked-off-set