On-Set Shooting: Alec Baldwin Was Rehearsing For A Scene When Gun Discharged, Affidavits Show

Hollywood actor, Alec Baldwin was practicing a stunt when a prop gun he was holding fired and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured Director Joel Souza on the set of the movie Rust, according to affidavits for search warrants released by Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office.

The new documents, based on interviews between sheriff detectives and several members of the film’s crew, offer the most complete accounting so far of Thursday’s shooting in New Mexico.

Recall that on October 16, Souza was shot in the shoulder and 42-year-old Hutchins was killed when the prop gun went off during a rehearsal at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe.

Read Also: Hollywood Actor, Alec Baldwin Fires Prop Gun On Movie Set, Kills Cinematographer, Injures Director

Affidavits containing statements from Souza and camera operator Reid Russell have shed more light on what happened.

Baldwin was handed a prop gun and told it was unloaded, court documents said.

Souza was standing behind Hutchins when they were both hit, according to the affidavit.

It said;

Joel stated that they had Alec sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of [Hutchins], when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop.

 When the gun was discharged, he says he recalled Hutchins grabbing her midsection and then stumbling before being helped to the ground. He told detectives she said she couldn’t feel her legs.

Hutchins, who was 42, was helped by medics on scene and was then transported to University of New Mexico Hospital by helicopter, where she later died.

Souza told authorities the workday on set usually started at 6:30 a.m. On Thursday, though, there was a delayed start because a camera crew had quit. With a new crew coming in, they had only one camera with which to work.

At around 12:30 p.m., the crew departed for lunch. The prop weapons were checked before lunch, Souza said, but he wasn’t sure if they were checked when the crew came back.

Souza noted that three people would typically handle guns on set. Firearms would first be checked by the film’s armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, before being checked by Assistant Director Dave Halls, who would then give a firearm to an actor for his or her scene.

According to the documents, Souza said that as far as he knew, no one was checked for live ammunition on their person; it’s just the weapons that are inspected to make sure there are no live rounds.

Souza said he remembered hearing someone yell, “Cold gun,” which means the gun was not supposed to have any live ammunition.

Halls, according to documents, was the one who yelled, “Cold gun” before handing the weapon to Baldwin. Halls told a detective investigating that he was not aware the weapon had live ammunition.

Read Also: Shooting Incident: Actor, Alec Baldwin’s Daughter Slams Father’s Critic, Candace Owen

Reid Russell, a cameraman who was standing near Hutchins and Souza, said that when the gun was discharged, Baldwin was in the middle of explaining how he was going to draw the weapon for the scene, according to the documents. The film crew was apparently still setting up for the scene, so no one was recording.

Russell also noted that in prior scenes, Baldwin had been especially careful with handling weapons, making sure there wasn’t a child nearby when he was discharging a gun.

The search warrant sought to recover any footage, video cameras, computer equipment and memory cards used by cameras on the set.

No charges have been filed. The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office says it will discuss the case further in a news conference Wednesday.