by Thinus Ferreira
American media reports that the American actor Alec Baldwin has accidentally shot and killed a cinematographer on set and wounded the director of the film Rust after he fired a prop gun on the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico on Thursday.
Alec Baldwin shot and killed the Rust director of photography Halyna Hutchins (42) and wounded director Joel Souza (48). Halyna Hutchins was flown by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque where she was pronounced dead while Joel Souza was hospitalised and is in a critical condition.
Production on Rust has immediately and indefinitely been paused that Alec Baldwin wrote, produced and had a role in as the infamous outlaw Rust whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.
Halyna Hutchins is Ukrainian-born and has been working in Los Angeles. She grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle and attended the Kyiv National University where she graduated with a degree in international journalism before working for a period of time on British documentary productions as an investigative journalist
"The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today's tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna's family and loved ones," says Rust Movies Productions LLC in a statement.
"We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department's investigation."
"We will be providing counselling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event."
The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department in a statement said that "Alec Baldwin was questioned by investigators and released. No arrests or charges have been filed. This investigation remains open and active. No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives."
America's SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher and national executive director Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, in a statement, say: "We are devastated by this tragic news".
"Our hearts go out to the family of director of photography Halyna Hutchins who has passed away and to director Joel Souza who is injured and hospitalised."
"This is still an active investigation and we do not yet have all the facts. We will continue to work with production, the other unions, and the authorities to investigate this incident and to understand how to prevent such a thing from happening again."
Archenemy director Adam Egypt Mortimer, a film on which Halyna Hutchins worked previously, wrote on Twitter "I'm so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set. She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film".
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Alec Baldwin could be seen outside the the sheriff's office headquarters and was distraught and in tears while talking on his cellphone.
The accidental firing of guns that killed people on set in America have happened before, for instance the death of actor Jon-Erik Hexum in 1984 who accidentally shot himself on the set of the TV series Cover Up when he fired a gun loaded with blanks.
In 1993 the son of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, Brandon Lee, died after he was accidentally shot on set during filming of The Crow.
