Alec Baldwin fires prop gun that kills woman on movie set

Actor discharged weapon on set of western movie 'Rust'

Los Angeles: US actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on a film set in New Mexico, US law enforcement officers said Thursday.

The incident happened on the set of "Rust" in the southwestern US state, where Baldwin is playing the lead in a 19th-century western. No charges have been filed over the incident, which is being investigated.

Halyna Hutchins and Joel Souza "were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin," the sheriff in Santa Fe said in a statement, with Hutchins succumbing to her wounds.

The dead woman, who was 42 years old, had been airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital.

The second person, a 42-year-old man, was taken by ambulance to a different hospital where he was said to be receiving emergency care.

“This incident remains an active investigation,” the sheriff said.

Baldwin co-produces, and stars as Harland Rust, an outlaw whose grandson is convicted of murder, and who goes on the run with him when the boy is sentenced to hang for the crime.

Baldwin, 63, has been on television and in films since the 1980s.

As well as a number of high profile movie roles, he garnered new fans with his portrayal of former president Donald Trump on “Saturday Night Live”.