Posted on 10/22/2021 6:57:38 AM PDT by conservative98
A distraught Alec Baldwin repeatedly asked why was he given a “hot gun” after his prop weapon accidentally discharged on his New Mexico film set Thursday, killing a cinematographer and injuring the director, witnesses have claimed.
The tragic accident unfolded while Baldwin was filming his upcoming western film “Rust” at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe.
Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, died and director, Joel Souza, 48, was injured after they were both struck when the gun discharged, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said.
Immediately after the incident, an eyewitness told Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411 that Baldwin started asking how he could have been given a “hot gun” – meaning a firearm loaded with real ammunition.
“In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun,” the actor allegedly kept saying.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Nearly every detective drama on TV has had an episode where the stage prop gun was replaced with a real one and a victim got really shot.
Did the script say ‘point this unloaded prop gun at the camera person and pull the trigger’? [/s]
Yes. The speculation is the scene called for the gun to be fired at the camera. The Director was a co-writer of the script.
Alec was filming a scene on the set of his new Western movie, Rust, that required him to fire a gun that was supposed to be loaded with blanks.
But, the gun discharged either shrapnel or a bullet, which hit two people on set including the director of photography, Halyna Hutchins.
If they were rolling. Have to think the odds are there was plenty of witnesses around in any case but who knows.
Freegards
Baldwin is a liberal moron. I wonder why he was given a plastic comb or glass instead of a sippy-cup.
I’d buy it more if he killed another actor playing his antagonist on the set. But why was he aiming at the CINEMATOGRAPHER who was presumably off-set?
Let’s assume it was, and the camera angle was basically directly facing Baldwin, or nearly so. If that’s the case then why not have the camera operator start the camera, then move away with all crew out of the line of fire before the director yells “Action” to remove the possibility of this happening? A suppose it could have been a fluid steadicam type shot but either do it robotically or add the jiggly effect in post.
Procedures need to change.
I’m not a lawyer, but if two people were out hunting with their AR-15s, and this same thing happened, would not the shooter be charged with at least 3rd degree murder?
The state would say: “you are holding and operating the gun, you are 100% responsible for its safety.”
So can we assume Alec Baldwin will be charged?
I would think the gun would be cleaned prior to inserting a blank.
The Perry Mason episode had a prop manager Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester)put a gun with real ammo in an ammo box along with 5 other prop guns.
This just seems strange to me. I never thought they used real bullets in these films.
This is where make believe meets reality. POS.
Accidents are typically charged,i.e. I accidently hit the person who walked in front of my car after I had a few bears - Go directly to jail.
In this case, because it was on set, the blame lies with the prop master and his staff, not the actor, unless the actor substituted live rounds for the intended blanks.
Exactly right. No one here knows any of the facts of the shooting but are attributing nothing but bad motives to Baldwin. The guy is a jerk, but innocent mistakes happen to jerks too. Instead of convicting and sentencing the guy without all the facts, why don’t we see how this unfolds as the FACTS come out? I know, that’s a lot to ask considering the current level of maturity on FR, but I can dream, can’t I?
Went after Cheney after his hunting accident too, and Cheney didn’t kill anyone.
It’s accurate. There’s guys on set whose sole job to NEVER hand an actor a gun that can kill somebody.
“Why would live ammunition be anywhere near the set?”
It is now being reported the crew was using it for live target practice 1 or 2 days earlier.
If so major lapse of safety protocols.
One way to find out is to check for fingerprints on the spent cartridge.
There is usually a specialist on a film set known as the armorer or safety officer that is the only prop person allowed to handle and prepare the prop firearms. They do not allow live ammunition anywhere near the set and have control of the blank ammunition and preparation of the weapons to make sure the barrel is clear of any debris.
For this shot to have been fatal the gun must have been pointed at the camera with the cinematographer and director at the view finder or video feed and fairly close to the lens. I don’t know how a safety officer could approve such a configuration with actual people behind the camera unless it was supposed to be a rehearsal set up with no blanks and the safety officer was either misinformed or confused. He has to be on set in either case. Somebody got careless and didn’t follow the safety protocols.
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