Actor Alec Baldwin Shot Woman With Prop Gun On Movie Set 

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

By Omotayo Olutekunbi

According to police in the US state, Mr Baldwin discharged the weapon while filming the 19th century western Rust.

Halyna Hutchins was transported to the hospital by helicopter but died as a result of her injuries. The man, director Joel Souza, was being treated in an emergency room.

According to a spokeswoman for Mr Baldwin, the event entailed the misfiring of a prop gun loaded with blanks.

Ms Hutchins, 42, was the director of photography on the set. Mr. Souza, 48, was taken away by ambulance, but the extent of his injuries has not been reported.

The incident at Bonanza Creek Ranch, a prominent movie site, is still being investigated by police, and no charges have been made.

A Santa Fe sheriff’s spokesperson told the AFP news agency that Mr Baldwin had spoken with detectives.

“He came in voluntarily and left the building after he finished his interviews,” stated the spokeswoman.

Ms Hutchins was born in Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military installation near the Arctic Circle, according to her personal website. She studied journalism in Kyiv and film in Los Angeles, and in 2019 she was dubbed a “coming star” by American Cinematographer magazine.

She was the director of photography for Adam Egypt Mortimer’s 2020 action thriller Archenemy.

Mr Baldwin co-produces the film and plays its title character, an outlaw whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an unintentional killing.

Mr Baldwin, the eldest of four brothers who are all actors, has appeared in several TV and film roles since the 1980s.

He received multiple honors for his portrayal of Jack Donaghy on the NBC sitcom 30 Rock. His performance of Donald Trump on Saturday Night Live earned him critical acclaim as well as a third Primetime Emmy.

Real firearms are frequently used in filming, and they are loaded with blank cartridges, which provide a flash and a bang but do not discharge a projectile.

Brandon Lee, the late martial-arts hero Bruce Lee’s 28-year-old son, died on set in 1993 after being inadvertently shot with a prop gun while filming a death scene for the film The Crow.

It was eventually discovered that the gun had previously discharged a round, causing a cartridge to become trapped in the barrel. When blank bullets were fired later, the cartridge became dislodged and was freed.