A woman is dead and a man was injured after they were accidentally shot by a firearm discharged by actor Alec Baldwin on a movie set in New Mexico on Thursday.
The incident took place on the movie set of “Rust.”
According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to a hospital and died of her injuries. Director Joel Souza, 48, was receiving emergency care at another hospital.
Hutchins died at University of New Mexico Hospital. Souza was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center.
The victims “were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alex Baldwin, 68, producer and actor.”
Filming was scheduled to continue into early November, according to the New Mexico Film Office, but now production of the Western movie has been halted.
A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident on the set involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Baldwin was seen Thursday outside the sheriff’s office in tears. Attempts to get a comment from him were unsuccessful.
Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios told the Albuquerque Journal, “According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged.
“Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.”
Rios said that deputies responded around 2 p.m. local time to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 reports of a person being shot on set.
No one has been arrested and no charges have been filed in the incident. The Sheriff’s office said that the incident remains under an “open and active” investigation as of late Thursday.
