Authorities confirmed on Thursday that a cinematographer working on the film “Rust” has died, and the director has been hospitalized, after an accident during filming involving actor Alec Baldwin misfiring a prop gun. The Western, starring Baldwin and Jensen Ackles of “Supernatural,” began filming this month at Bonanza Creek Movie Ranch, a film location in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement that deputies with the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office responded to the film set around 2 p.m. local time after a 911 caller “reported a shooting on the set.” Two people were shot after a prop firearm was discharged during filming, authorities said. Baldwin fired the prop gun, striking the film’s director, Joel Souza, and director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, the sheriff’s office said in a follow-up statement Thursday night. Detectives are still determining “how and what type of projectile was discharged,” the sheriff’s office said earlier.
Hutchins, 42, was transported via helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital, the state’s only Level 1 trauma center, “in critical condition,” according to sheriff’s deputies and the hospital. She later succumbed to her injuries, the sheriff’s office said. Souza, 48, was brought in an ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and is receiving emergency care, authorities said.
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