One person died, and a second person was injured in an accidental shooting Thursday on the set of “Rust,” a feature starring Alec Baldwin that was filming in New Mexico.
Fox News reported Baldwin fired the shot that killed his director of photography Halyna Hutchins, 42, and hit director Joel Souza, 42.
A 42-year-old woman died from the incident, which involved a prop firearm, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. A 42-year-old man was receiving emergency care.
“The Santa Fe County sheriff’s office confirms that two individuals were shot during filming of a scene on the set of the movie western ‘Rust,'” the office said in a statement. “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.”
The incident was reported at 1:50 p.m. M.T. at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location.
The woman was transported by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she died, the office stated. The man was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe.
The Sheriff’s office did not identify the woman, saying that next of kin had not been notified.
Joel Souza is writing and directing the Western, which also stars Frances Fisher, Jensen Ackles, Brady Noon and Travis Fimmel. Albuquerque station KOB4’s news helicopter photographed the incident, showing an old church set blocked off, and reported that set security confirmed it is on lockdown.
Baldwin is a co-producer on the film and plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder. Ackles plays a U.S. Marshal and Fimmel plays a bounty hunter who are on the pair’s tail as Rust tries to break his grandson out of prison. An unexpected bond forms between the outlaw and his estranged grandson as they go on the run.
CAA Media Finance and Highland Film Group were launching sales on the film at last year’s Cannes virtual film market, with Baldwin producing through his El Dorado Pictures banner alongside Anjul Nigam and executive producer Matthew Helderman. Baldwin and Nigam produced Souza’s previous feature, 2019’s “Crown Vic.” Anna Granucci is also producing with Elizabeth L. Barbatelli as an executive producer.
New Mexico is a busy film location, and the Bonanza Creek Ranch has hosted productions including “Hostiles,” “Cowboys & Aliens,” “3:10 to Yuma,” “Appaloosa,” and “Longmire.”
Via Newsmax