The gun used in the accidental shooting on set of Alec Baldwin’s movie was ‘used for fun’: report

The loaded prop gun used in the accidental shooting that killed Halyna Hutchins had earlier been used by the crew to ‘for fun’, in a bombshell new claim.

The loaded prop gun used in the Alec Baldwin shooting incident had been used by crew members to shoot cans “for fun”, it has been claimed.

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed after an accidental shooting involving Baldwin and the weapon on the set of the movie Rush in New Mexico.

Now it has emerged that “hours” before the tragedy, crew members had taken the firearm to go “plinking” – a hobby in which people shoot beer cans with live ammunition, the New York Post reports.

Sources claimed the gun had been used for target practice, which “could explain how a live round ended up in its chamber”, TMZ alleged.

A source said authorities found live ammunition and blank rounds stored in the “same area” that had been the site of the crew’s recreational target practice.

Candles are placed around a photo of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins during a vigil held in her honor at Albuquerque Civic Plaza. Picture: Getty Images

Photos of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins are displayed before a vigil held to honor her at Albuquerque Civic Plaza in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Picture: Getty Images

Using the prop, Baldwin accidentally fired a live round that fatally struck and killed Hutchins, 42, and injured Rust director Joel Souza, 48, who survived the incident.

In a statement, the producers of Rust said: “Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down”.

Security guards stand at the entrance of Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on the set of Rust. Picture: AFP

‘LIFE THREATENING’

An actor working on Rust when Baldwin fired a gun that accidentally killed Hutchins says filming felt “life threatening” – with cast members openly discussing fears of another Brandon Lee-style deadly shooting on set.

Ian A. Hudson told TMZ that he was terrified acting in a scene where his outlaw character was gunned down by actors using real weapons including 20 pistols and two rifles.

“Everyone on the camera crew was protected by shields – and the camera was protected by a shield,” he said, noting that only the lens could be seen poking through the shield.

“So that made me question me being in front of the camera and sort of in between all that fire.”

Hudson said the production was on a “rushed schedule” and described the experience as “terrifying”.

“I actually did feel the blanks hitting my face and my body. I could feel the wind from the shotgun being discharged,” he said.

“It was heavy. It was strong … It was life-threatening. It felt too surreal.”

Even before Baldwin accidentally shot dead Hutchins, the cinematographer, actors on the New Mexico set openly discussed their fears that such a tragedy could happen, Hudson told TMZ.

“I would talk to my fellow cast members afterwards, and we all agreed how intense that was and how scary and real it was,” the New Mexico local told the outlet.

“Brandon Lee having died in ’93 — that conversation came up a couple times between my fellow cast members and I,” he said, referring to Bruce Lee’s actor son who was shot dead in an eerily similar accident on the set of “The Crow.”

“Just, you know — we’re doing this the same way they did it then, 30 years ago,” he said.

Hudson said that he “held his tongue” over a lot of his concerns because he is a “new actor” who didn’t “want to cause trouble.”

“But some of the other actors … were double- and triple-checking our weapons after the armourer gave them to us, whether they were cold or hot,” he said.

Halyna Hutchins was killed on the set of Rust.

Meanwhile, it has emerged that the director who reportedly handed the prop gun to Alec Baldwin that killed a cinematographer on the Rust movie set was fired from a previous role over a firearms incident.

Dave Halls was an assistant director on the movie Freedom’s Path in 2019 when a gun “unexpectedly discharged,” injuring a sound crew member, the production company Rocket Soul Studios told CNN.

The crew member sustained minor injuries and spent a few days away from work.

The assistant director “was very remorseful for the events, and understood the reasons he was being terminated,” the production company told CNN.

Halls was identified in an affidavit as the person who handed Baldwin the gun on the Rust set last week. Baldwin was told the gun was “cold” and was rehearsing when it fired and cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was killed and director Joel Souza wounded.

The film set Medic has told of the moment she realised a real life tragedy was unfolding before the shocked cast and crew.

Cherlyn Schaefer heard a “loud shot” fill the air on the New Mexico set last week and immediately asked what was going on.

“Because fire in the hole was not called,” Ms Schaefer said in an injury report she filed after the shooting.

She then asked “are we rehearsing?” – before someone on set began frantically shouting about a “medic emergency”.

Ms Schaefer rushed to the set where Baldwin, 63, was rehearsing in a church building setting.

She ordered crew members to apply pressure to Hutchins’ bleeding torso and to call 911, as she checked the 42-year-old’s vital signs and gave her oxygen through a mask.

In her report, she wrote something “was shot from a prop gun” in the section that asked for detailed cause of the incident.

According to Souza’s witness statement, Baldwin was “practising” drawing the gun across his body – and pointing it “towards the camera lens” – when the weapon was fired, hitting Hutchins in the chest and wounding Souza.

“Joel stated that they had Alec sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practising a cross draw,” the affidavit stated.

Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene when the tragedy happened.

“Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of Halyna, when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop. Joel then vaguely remembers (Hutchins) complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection.

“Joel also said (Hutchins) began to stumble backwards and she was assisted to the ground.

“Joel explained that he was bleeding from his shoulder and he could see blood on Halyna.”

The production’s chief electrician Serge Svetnoy has recounted holding Hutchins as she was bleeding to death at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in New Mexico.

“I was holding her in my arms while she was dying,” Svetnoy told US publication Deadline.

In a post on Facebook, he wrote: “I was standing shoulder to shoulder with Halyna during this fatal shot that took her life and injured the director, Joel Souza”.

“I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands.”

Svetnoy accused Rust’s producers of risking the crew’s lives. “To save a dime sometimes, you hire people who are not fully qualified for the complicated and dangerous job, and you risk the lives of the other people who are close and your lives as well,” he said.

The movie set church where Halyna Hutchins was killed. Picture: AP

Serge Svetnoy posted this photo on Facebook describing the final scene involving Halyna Hutchins and Alec Baldwin.

Camera operator Reid Russell told investigators Baldwin was “trying to explain how he was going to draw out the firearm and where his arm would be at when the firearm was pulled from the holster.”

His affidavit said he “was not sure why the firearm was discharged and just remembered the loud bang from the firearm”.

When asked how Baldwin handled the firearm, Russell told investigators the actor “had been very careful” and recalled an earlier instance when Baldwin “made sure it was safe and that a child wasn’t near him when they were discharging a firearm during that scene.”

The production company behind the movie, Rust Movie Productions, said it was investigating claims guns had misfired twice before on the set.

“Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down,” the company said in a statement.

In an e-mail to crew members, the company said production of the film was being halted but called it “a pause rather than an end.”

Originally published as The gun used in the accidental shooting on set of Alec Baldwin’s movie was ‘used for fun’: report