(Los Angeles) Actor Alec Baldwin shot and killed the cinematographer on Thursday, presumably by accident, and injured the director of the western he was filming in the US state of New Mexico, announced local police.
Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza “were shot and wounded when Alec Baldwin discharged a gun used in the filming” of the film RustSanta Fe County Sheriff’s Department said in a statement to AFP.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, was evacuated by helicopter to a nearby hospital, where she was pronounced dead by medics.
The director of Rust, Joel Souza, 48, was admitted to intensive care.
According to a spokesperson for the sheriff quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, he is in “critical condition”. According to the specialized media, quoting a spokesperson for the production, this is an “accident” involving an accessory to be charged blank. The daily photographer Santa Fe New Mexican captured photos of visibly shaken Alec Baldwin.
The investigation continued Thursday evening with the hearing of witnesses by the police and no prosecution has been initiated at this stage, the statement said.
Earlier, the sheriff’s services had indicated that the incident appeared to be linked to a weapon used as an accessory on the set and that “investigators are trying to find out what type of projectile was fired” and under what circumstances.
The previous Brandon Lee
The filming site, Bonanza Creek Ranch, which is used extensively in westerns, was cordoned off Thursday afternoon, according to local media.
Rust is a western written and directed by Joel Souza, starring Alec Baldwin as co-producer and as outlaw Harland Rust, who comes to the aid of his 13-year-old grandson sentenced to be hanged for murder.
63-year-old Alec Baldwin has made himself particularly popular in the United States in recent years for his impersonations of Donald Trump on the famous satirical show Saturday Night Live.
A photo published Thursday morning on the artist’s Instagram account, long before the drama, seems to show him at the shooting location of Rust, in which also takes part the Australian Travis Fimmel, famous for his role as Ragnar Lothbrok in the series Vikings.
In March 1993, actor Brandon Lee died on the set of the film The Crow after being shot in the stomach.
The weapon used to fire during a scene at the then 27-year-old son of martial arts star Bruce Lee was believed to contain only blank bullets. But the autopsy revealed that he had been hit by a .44 caliber projectile that got stuck in the barrel and dislodged by the detonation of the blank cartridge.
The prosecutor in charge of the investigation had concluded with the “negligence”.