After his fake weapon detonated on his New Mexico film set Thursday, inadvertently killing a cameraman and injuring the director, a distressed Alec Baldwin repeatedly demanded why he was given a “hot gun.”
Baldwin was filming his next Western picture “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe when the horrible event occurred.
According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, died and director Joel Souza, 48, were both hurt when the revolver discharged.
Baldwin began wondering how he could have been given a “hot pistol” – a handgun filled with live ammo — almost immediately after the incident, an eyewitness said Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411.
“I’ve never been handed a hot gun in all my years,” the actor apparently kept repeating.
Baldwin was in shock following the experience, according to the witness, and he “had no idea how seriously they were harmed or Halyna was dead.” After the unintentional double shooting, which occurred about 2 p.m., the film set was put on lockdown and production was halted.
Hutchins was taken to Albuquerque’s University of New Mexico Hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Authorities stated the director was being treated at Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe.
The sheriff’s office said in a statement that “detectives are investigating how and what sort of projectile was discharged.” The incident was caused by the “misfire of a prop gun with blanks,” according to a production spokeswoman, and sources informed TMZ that either shrapnel or a bullet struck Hutchins and Souza.
“Today’s tragedy has devastated the whole cast and crew, and we express our heartfelt condolences to Halyna’s family and loved ones,” the production company wrote in a statement to The Washington Post.
On Thursday, the actor shared a snapshot of himself on set dressed in a Western suit with fake blood on his shirt and coat on Instagram.
His representatives did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
