Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

Alec Baldwin fired off a prop gun that accidentally killed a woman on set of his new movie.

The 63-year-old actor has been filming the 19th century western in New Mexico, with the fatal incident taking place on Thursday.

According to Deadline, a spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.

The woman who was killed has been named as 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins, who worked as the movie’s director of photography. The film’s director Joel Souza, 48, was also injured but has been released from hospital.

Police said their investigation remains open and active, and no charges have yet been filed in relation to the incident.

Ms Hutchins was a graduate of the American Film Institute and had been named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer magazine in 2019.

In a statement to Variety magazine, the International Cinematographer’s Guild said Ms Hutchins’ death was “devastating news” and “a terrible loss”.

Police said sheriff’s deputies were dispatched to Bonanza Creek Ranch at around 13:50pm MST (19:30 GMT) after receiving an emergency call about a shooting on set.

Mr Baldwin, 68, is a co-producer of the film and plays its namesake, an outlaw named Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.

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