Alec Baldwin was pointing prop gun at camera before fatal shot: report

Alec Baldwin is interviewed by detectives in Santa Fe. (file)

Los Angeles:

Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a prop gun at a camera lens when he fatally shot cinematographer Halyana Hutchins, the American media reporter recording his director’s account of the tragedy. Referring to the affidavit.

According to an affidavit released to US media on Sunday, director Joel Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins when the gun was fired, said he heard “sounds like a whip and then a loud pop”.

Souza said that Baldwin was “sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over Halayna’s shoulder” when he heard the gunfire, NBC News reported as the affidavit.

It quotes Souza as saying that she remembered Hutchins “complaining about her belly and clutching her midsection.”

“Joel also said that Halayna stumbled backwards and helped her fall to the ground,” the affidavit said, according to NBC. “Joel reported that his shoulder was bleeding and he could see the blood on Halayna.”

Hutchins, 42, suffered a chest injury after Baldwin secured a prop gun Thursday on the set of the low-budget western “Rust” in New Mexico. He was declared brought dead at the hospital hours later.

48-year-old Souza was treated by doctors and sent home.

Police is still probing the shooting and has issued a search warrant on the sets.

Baldwin is interviewed by detectives in Santa Fe, and says he is cooperating fully with the investigation.

Attention has also turned to the film’s assistant director, Dave Hall, who handed the weapon to the actor, and Hannah Gutierrez-Reid, 24, at the weapon.

No one has been charged and no arrests have been made.

The incident happened after the lunch break, Souza reportedly said in the affidavit, adding that he was not sure if the gun was re-checked for safety after the break.

A camera operator also reportedly said that the incident was not captured in the film as the cast and crew were still preparing for the scene.

New details emerged as Hutchins’ shocked friends and colleagues gathered to pay tribute to him on Sunday, where their anguish and anger were on display.

Calls to ban live firearms on movie sets were mounting, with a petition garnering more than 20,000 signatures and a California lawmaker announcing he would move a bill banning live ammunition on sets in the state. .

(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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