Police report finds prop gun Alec Baldwin used had live rounds in it

Police say Alec Baldwin was told the prop gun he accidentally killed a cinematographer with was safe, when it actually had live rounds in it.

Police reports from the tragic death of Halyna Hutchins reveal Alec Baldwin was handed what was described as a safe “cold gun” on the set of his movie Rust, but the prop gun contained live rounds when it was fired.

Reuters reports the shot hit cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in the chest, and director Joel Souza who was behind her, in the shoulder, according to a county sheriff’s affidavit filed in Santa Fe magistrates court.

According to Detective Joel Cano, the assistant director who handed Baldwin the weapon did not know it contained live rounds.

Shooting came after crew protest

Just hours before the incident, crew members reportedly “walked off” over unsafe working conditions, according to the LA Times.

Sources quoted by the publication said at least one of the camera operators had complained to production managers about gun safety on set after Baldwin’s stunt double had accidentally fired two rounds on Saturday after being told that the gun was “cold”.

One of the crew members who witnessed that episode told the Los Angeles Times, “There should have been an investigation into what happened.

“There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.”

A colleague was so alarmed by the prop gun misfires he sent a text message to the unit production manager. “We’ve now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe,” he wrote, according to a copy of the message reviewed by The Times.

Frantic call to police

Authorities in New Mexico called for a helicopter to be sent “quickly” in the wake of the Alec Baldwin film set shooting, according to the 911 dispatch audio.

The actor fired a prop gun on the movie set that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza, authorities said on Thursday.

“We have two people shot,” a woman can be heard saying in the initial 911 call at about 2 p.m.

After arriving, authorities can be heard asking dispatchers: “Can you go ahead and get a helicopter quickly?”

As first responders were treating Hutchins, dispatchers were told the helicopter hadn’t yet taken off because they were “still trying to stabilize the patient.”

Hutchins was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she died from her injuries.

Souza was treated in a Santa Fe hospital and later released.

The film set was sent into lockdown and production was halted immediately after the accidental double shooting.

“Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,” the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

No charges had been filed as of Friday.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that the 63-year-old was seen outside the sheriff’s office in tears.

The on-set tragedy is a grim reminder of two devastating accidents involving prop guns that ended the lives of two rising stars.

A distraught Alec Baldwin after being questioned about a shooting when a prop gun misfired earlier in the day on a local movie set. Picture: Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins.

In 1984, Jon-Erik Hexum was just 26 years old when he fatally shot himself on the set of his CBS series Cover Up with a .44 Magnum pistol loaded with blanks.

The actor’s final words before the horrific shooting vary in reports.

According to Entertainment Weekly, Hexum had been napping during delays in filming. However, when he later learned that there would be more delays, Hexum reportedly held the gun to his head and joked “Can you believe this crap?” before pulling the trigger.

But at the time of the incident, Detective Gary Fullerton said Hexum loaded three empty cartridges and two gunpowder-filled blanks into a high-powered handgun before he allegedly said, “Let’s see if I’ve got one for me,” The New York Times reported.

Jon-Erik Hexum.

Brandon Lee.

What is known is that Hexum pretended to play Russian roulette and the force of the blank round’s explosion fractured his skull near his right temple.

Entertainment Weekly reported the impact from the blast drove a bone fragment the size of a quarter into his brain, causing massive haemorrhaging. He was rushed to Beverly Hills Medical Center. After five hours of surgery, Hexum was pronounced brain dead on October 18 of that year.

The outlet noted that after Hexum’s death, Cover Up hung on for only one season with Antony Hamilton. And a few years later, the late star’s mother, Gretha Hexum, won an undisclosed out-of-court settlement with Twentieth Century Fox Television and Glenn Larson Productions.

Prop guns are seen during an interview with props expert Guillaume Delouche at Independent Studio Services in Sunland-Tujunga. Picture: David McNew/AFP

Nearly a decade later, the son of late legendary martial artist Bruce Lee suffered a similar fate.

Brandon Lee famously landed the lead role of Eric Draven in the The Crow. The 1993 film is based on the comic book series about a murdered musician who is resurrected to avenge his and his fiancee’s slayings.

On March 31, 1993, the 28-year-old died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene. The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.

According to History.com, hollowed-out cartridges are often used to film close-ups of a gun being loaded. The “dummy” cartridges are then supposed to be removed and replaced with blanks before being fired. However, the police investigation found that a tip of one of the cartridge’s bullets broke off and lodged in the gun. It was then fired at Lee with the blank.

North Carolina District Attorney Jerry Spivey later announced that Lee’s death on The Crow was due to negligence on the part of the film’s crew, not foul play, the outlet shared.

Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on “Rust”. No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period. 💔

— Brandon Bruce Lee (@brandonblee) October 22, 2021

While Lee had completed nearly all of his scenes, the filmmakers wrapped up filming by using a double and technology. Lee’s death garnered worldwide attention and prompted changes on how firearms are treated on sets.

It also illustrated the paltry sums companies face after serious accidents. OSHA fined the company making the The Crow $A112,510 — the highest fine levied since 1990 — but later reduced the penalty to $73,667. The Crow grossed more than $50 million.

Following the accident on Rust, Lee’s Twitter account, which is run by his sister Shannon, shared a heartfelt message on social media.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust’,” it read. “No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.”

-- with Stephanie Nolasco, Fox News

Originally published as Police report finds prop gun Alec Baldwin used had live rounds in it