Alec Baldwin Fatally Shoots Crew Member With Prop Firearm on Film Set, Authorities Say

New York Times ^ | October 21, 2021 | Alyssa Lukpat and Michael Levenson

[grundle]

Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of a Western he was making in New Mexico on Thursday, killing the film’s director of photography and wounding the movie’s director, the authorities said.

[COBOL2Java]

Can someone tell me why he was firing towards the cinematographer and the director at the same time and how one shot can kill one and injure another? How does that work?

Interesting YouTube about this topic, from "Arizona Ghostriders", an Old West reenactment group:

Gunfight Safety

[Mount Athos]

None of the 3 sentences you wrote were true.

[3RIVRS]

Why was he in a scene that required him to hold or use a gun?

[motor_racer]

The actor Jon-Erik Hexum accidentally killed himself with a prop gun shooting blanks.

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1984/10/20/The-body-of-actor-Jon-Erik-Hexum-who-fatally-shot/9056467092800/

[navymom1]

I wonder if anybody will ever know what really happened. Prayers for all concerned, especially the victims.

I don’t handle guns. Don’t like them. That’s my personal thing. But even I know you ALWAYS assume a gun is loaded and you NEVER point it at anything you don’t intend to shoot. Never. Under any circumstances.

[Rennes Templar]

Karma is a bitch.

[Rennes Templar]

Well the bleed/lead media will be happy, since the Brian Laundrie story is “dead”.

[PIF]

Dead woman.

[Cen-Tejas]

There are a lot of questions but at least # 2 is WHO LOADED THE GUN?

Despite what radical marxist democrats think, a gun doesn’t load itself.

[V_TWIN]

I think Brandon Lee died under similar circumstances

[Sirius Lee]

Or was he messing around and fired at least two shots at two people believing blanks wouldn't injure anyone?

If I were a gamblin' man, I'd place my money on it likely being this. They guy's an idiot.

[TheGunny]

Agreed.

[Tuxedo]

Bring in Columbo. He will sort it out.

[Sirius Lee]

If the claim is made that he didn’t intentionally shoot the gun, how did it go off?

Especially if it was an old period gun like a Colt SAA where you have to manually cock the hammer and THEN pull the trigger.

[ßuddaßudd]

good jog alex,,, now shut down all of of the movie industry until all guns are removed from all the sets !!

[OldGoatCPO]

The same way Brandon Lee was killed by a blank cartridge. Mistakes happen with prop guns. In Lee’s case a round (used to give the appearance that real bullets are loaded in the revolver) was stuck in the barrel from a previous scene. Nobody checked to see if the weapon was clear before loading blanks. When a blank was fired the pressure from the discharged blank cartridge pushed the round out killing Lee.

You would think protocols were put in place to prevent that happening again. The guns used are often the real deal, so it is possible a live round was accidentally used. The actors are not really aiming the gun so I suspect he was facing a camera or designated spot for the scene. Probably fired multiple times for the scene before realizing something was wrong.

Somebody should be held accountable but I doubt it is going to be a twit who only plays the role of an intelligent person in movies.

[Cooter]

Brandon Lee was shot and killed by another actor while filming The Crow.

[OldGoatCPO]

Lots of questions, was it a semi-auto, was it a revolver or a long gun. I am sure more details will come out. Hard to understand how a prop company would have live rounds on the set though.

[HypatiaTaught]

Yes blanks sure do kill people.

Jon Erik Hexum, a TV actor in 1985, put the prop gun to his head on the set of his series and said, “I wonder if there is one in here for me.” Pulled the trigger, massive brain bleeding, and his folks removed life support after two days...

Tragic.

[T.B. Yoits]

Just like Ted Kennedy killed more people with his car than regular citizens have with their gun, anti-gun Alec Baldwin killed more people with a gun than regular citizens.

It's 2021. How is it that a Hollywood production crew can't safely film a firearm scene in a movie where EVERYTHING is fake?

The five rules of firearms safety:

1. Don't ever let the government take your guns.
2. All guns are always loaded.
3. Never let the muzzle cover anything you are not willing to destroy.
4. Keep your finger off the trigger till your sights are on the target.
5. Identify your target (and what is behind it).