Alec Baldwin shot two people, one of them fatally, with a prop gun on the New Mexico set of his latest movie, authorities said Thursday evening.
“There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” a production spokesperson with the film “Rust” told Deadline.
In a statement shared with numerous news outlets, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office confirmed that Mr. Baldwin was the person who pulled the trigger in the incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch.
“A prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin, 68, producer and actor,” the sheriff’s office said.
Halyna Hutchins, the film’s principal cinematographer, was killed and director Joel Souza also was wounded, the department said.
“Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.
The investigation was open, but no charges have been filed yet, the office said.
Ms. Hutchins was sent to the University of New Mexico Hospital by helicopter but pronounced dead by medical personnel. Mr. Souza was being treated at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center after being transported by ambulance.
According to the New York Post, Mr. Baldwin had posted an on-set photo of himself on Instagram earlier in the day dressed in western wear.
“Back to in person at the office. Blimey … it’s exhausting,” Mr. Baldwin reportedly wrote.
The photo had been taken down by Thursday evening.
The Post said Mr. Baldwin’s representatives did not immediately return emails seeking comment.
In the film, a period Western that began filming earlier this month, Mr. Baldwin plays an outlaw who comes to the aid of his estranged teenage grandson, who’d been sentenced to hang for accidentally killing a rancher.
• Victor Morton can be reached at vmorton@washingtontimes.com.
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