A movie prop masters union has told members it was a live round and not a blank that Alec Baldwin fired at a female cinematographer on Thursday in New Mexico, killing her and wounding the movie’s director in a tragic on-set accident.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, died shortly after being shot by Baldwin around 1.50pm Thursday at Bonanza Creek Ranch, near the city of Santa Fe in New Mexico, where they were filming the movie Rust. Joel Souza, 48, the film’s director, was also hurt and spent several hours in hospital, but was released later the same evening.
Police have disclosed few details about the shooting, saying only that a ‘projectile’ was fired by a ‘prop gun’ and they are investigating, and the movie production insisted that only blanks were used.
But a prop masters union IATSE 44 told members on Thursday night in an email that a ‘live’ round was fired.
DailyMail.com has also obtained a portion of the 911 call that was placed from the set. In the three-second long clip , a woman can be heard saying: ‘We have two people accidentally shot.’
According to witnesses on-set, Baldwin was stunned after firing the fatal round and asked: ‘Why was I handed a hot gun?’
Hutchins’ grieving husband Matthew told DailyMail.com on Friday morning that he had spoken with the actor.
‘I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive,’ he said.
It’s unclear where the union got the information that the round fired by Baldwin was a live one, since none of its members were on the movie set. However it appeared to have seen the call sheet, and confirmed that the props department for the film was staffed with local New Mexican crew, not Hollywood pros.