Actor Alec Baldwin received a pistol loaded with real bullets without knowing they were during the filming of the movie
Rust
in
New Mexico, and shot it, killing the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and wounding the film's director, Joel Souza.
An assistant director told the actor that it was safe to use the weapon moments before he fired, according to court records consulted this Friday by the news agency The Associated Press.
The assistant director also did not know that the prop gun was loaded with live bullets, according to a search warrant filed in the Santa Fe court where the case is being carried out.
Private security on the set of the movie 'Rust', in New Mexico;
on October 22, 2021.Andres Leighton / AP
According to sources consulted by our sister network NBC News, the prop weapon that Baldwin used in the fatal accident had already caused problems on set when it was fired on another occasion.
A few hours before the accident, several members of the film crew left the set of the film R
ust
to protest the working conditions and safety, according to these sources.
Halyna Hutchins was shot in the chest, and Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was injured, according to the cited documents, although he has already left the hospital.
["My heart is broken," Alec Baldwin laments after the shooting that killed a fellow filmmaker]
The search warrant was granted this Friday to the detectives investigating the case so that they could search the ranch where the film, of the
western
genre, was being recorded
.
The documents record that
the blood-covered outfit that Baldwin was wearing
at the time of the accident
was recovered as evidence
.
The weapon with which he accidentally killed Hutchins was also recovered as evidence, as well as other prop guns and ammunition that were being used for the shoot, whose executive producer and star was Baldwin.
The actor described the incident on Friday as a "tragic event."
According to the Sheriff's office, Baldwin was acting when he fired the gun.
It is still unclear how many rounds he fired and not much has been said about the characteristics of the weapon.
“There are no words to express my shock and sadness at the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, wife, mother and admired colleague of ours.
I am fully cooperating with the police investigation
to address how this tragedy occurred, ”he wrote.
[What are prop weapons, why are they so dangerous, and what could have gone wrong for Alec Baldwin to fire lethally]
“I am in contact with her husband, offering my support to him and his family.
My heart is broken for her husband, her son and everyone who knew and loved Halyna, ”she added.
Baldwin has not yet been charged with a crime and has been allowed to travel, Sheriff's spokesman Juan Ríos said.
"He is a free man," he pointed out.
Actor Alec Baldwin is caught shortly after accidentally shooting the cinematographer of the film 'Rust' in New Mexico on October 21, 2021. Jim Weber / The New Mexican via NBC News
Images of the 63-year-old actor - known for his roles in
30 Rock
and
Red October,
as well as his portrayal of Donald Trump on the
Saturday Night Live
comedy
show -
showed him disturbed and distraught on set and in the sheriff's office. .
Sometimes the firearms used in the movies are real and can fire live or blank ammunition, which only makes noise and causes a flash but does not launch projectiles.
But even blank bullets can expel incandescent gases, paper or plastic that at a short distance can be lethal, as happened once with the death of an actor in 1984.
