Stephen requests 'prayers tonight' after Alec's 'tragic accident'

Stephen Baldwin asks for ‘prayers tonight’ after brother Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and KILLED female cinematographer on set of his movie Rust in New Mexico

Alec Baldwin, 63, shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the set of upcoming film Rust
‘Asking for your prayers tonight friends not much can be said other than please pray for all involved in the wake of this tragic accident thank you,’ wrote Stephen
Baldwin fired a prop gun that ejected a ‘projectile’ which hit Hutchins and Joel Souza, the film’s writer-director
She was taken to hospital by air ambulance after the 1.50pm shooting, but was pronounced dead shortly after
Souza, 48, was also wounded and taken to hospital but has since been released. His exact condition is unclear
Baldwin reportedly asked why he was handed a ‘hot gun’ after the shooting, which typically means a gun loaded with real ammunition
The film’s production company and others on set insist the gun was loaded with blanks – which can still be lethal if fired in close proximity
The family of Brandon Bruce Lee, who was killed on the set of The Crow in 1993, said on Friday: ‘No one should be killed by a prop gun on a movie set’
The crew in that accident thought the gun was loaded with dummy bullets and blanks but an autopsy revealed a .44 bullet lodged in Lee’s spine

Stephen Baldwin requested ‘prayers tonight’ on his Instagram this Thursday in the aftermath of his brother Alec Baldwin accidentally shooting a prop gun on set.

Alec, 63, accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounded director Joel Souza, 48, on the set of his new film Rust.

‘Asking for your prayers tonight friends not much can be said other than please pray for all involved in the wake of this tragic accident thank you,’ wrote Stephen, 55, a devout Christian, on his Instagram page Thursday night.

‘All involved’: Stephen Baldwin requested ‘prayers tonight’ on Instagram Thursday in the aftermath of his brother Alec’s ‘tragic accident’; the pair are pictured at the 2008 Tony Awards

In his caption he cited Psalm 91 which reads in part: ‘I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.’ He has also added the citation in front of his name on his Twitter page.

The Psalm promises that those who place their faith in God ‘shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day,’ adding: ‘A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.’

Alec allegedly repeatedly asked ‘why was I handed a hot gun?’ after the horrifying incident this Thursday.

Cinematographer Hutchins died shortly after being shot by Baldwin around 1.50pm Thursday at Bonanza Creek Ranch, near the city of Santa Fe in New Mexico. Souza, the film’s director, was also hurt and spent several hours in hospital, but was released later the same evening.

Devout Christian: ‘Asking for your prayers tonight friends not much can be said other than please pray for all involved in the wake of this tragic accident thank you,’ wrote Stephen

Police have disclosed few details about the shooting, saying only that a ‘projectile’ was fired by a ‘prop gun’ and they are investigating.

A spokesman for the movie’s production company has insisted that only blanks were used, but the sheriff’s department is yet to confirm that. It’s unclear if this was the first and only shot Baldwin fired, or if others had been fired safely. Immediately after firing the fatal shot, Baldwin asked why he’d been handed a ‘hot’ gun, according to Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411.

The tragedy is reminiscent of the 1993 accident on the set of The Crow, when Bruce Lee’s son Brandon was shot and killed by a fellow actor.

The film crew in that accident thought the gun was loaded with dummy bullets and blanks, but an autopsy revealed Lee had a .44 caliber bullet lodged in his spine. Investigators in that shooting also probed the theory that a dummy cartridge got stuck in the barrel before the second was fired – a known hazard in shooting which can cause serious injuries or death when the second round is fired.

Man of faith: Stephen Baldwin is pictured attending the premiere of the film The Ticket at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016

Rhys Muldoon, an Australian actor who has worked extensively in film and TV, also suggested that a blank misfiring close to the camera could have caused Thursday’s accident – telling the BBC that material from the blank round could have struck Hutchins before causing part of the camera to hit Souza.

Mike Tristano, 60, a Hollywood armorer with 30 years’ experience who spoke to the Dailymail.com, said ultimate responsibility for gun safety on movie set rests with the armorer.

The movie’s armorer or weapons master has not been been named. Sante Fe Sheriff’s Department says it will continue to interview ‘witnesses’ on Friday.

Alec Baldwin is pictured sobbing after shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his upcoming movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday

The 68 year-old actor was also snapped doubled-over in a parking lot, with his hands on his knees and his face seemingly crumpled with distress

Halyna Hutchins, 42, (left) was shot dead in the incident on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where writer-director Joel Souza, 48, (right) was also injured

Police tape cordons of a small church used as a set for the movie, after a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe on Thursday

An image taken on the set of Rust shows cast and crew members receiving a safety briefing before filming stunts. The image was uploaded to Instagram a week ago

‘There should have been blanks in the gun, the on-set armorer’s job is to check that before handing the weapon over,’ Tristan said.

ALEC BALDWIN ON-SET TRAGEDY – WHAT WENT WRONG?

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office continues to investigate what exactly happened on the set that led to the death of Hutchins and injury of the director, but past accidents involving guns on movie sets present a range of options for what could have led to the tragedy.

Squib load – something was lodged in the barrel of the gun when Baldwin fired

One possibility is that an object was stuck in the barrel of the prop gun that Baldwin was using. Known as a squib load, it happens when a cartridge isn’t expended from the barrel because there aren’t enough gases to push it out.

In itself, it is not dangerous and can be fixed, but if someone keeps firing rounds from that same gun – live or not.

If a second round is fired behind the stuck round, it can cause the weapon to explode, or injure people in the near vicinity.

A real bullet was accidentally loaded, or part of one was, instead of a blank

After firing the gun, Baldwin’s immediate reaction was to ask why he’d been handed a ‘hot’ gun – meaning one containing live bullets.

That is what happened in the 1993 shooting of actor Brandon Bruce Lee on the set of The Crow.

Those on set thought the gun was loaded with blanks, but an autopsy revealed a .44 caliber bullet was lodged near Lee’s spine.

Police recovered dummy shell casings from the set.

A dummy, unlike a blank, looks like a live round with a bullet at the tip of the cartridge.

Blast from the blank struck something else on set

One possibility, though it is not likely, is that the blank hit something else, damaged it, and caused that prop or piece of equipment to send pieces flying towards the director and Hutchins.

Rhys Muldoon who has used guns on set many times and says even blanks are dangerous, speculated at that possibility, telling the BBC: ‘The first thought I had is this is a close up of a gun being fired by the actor, very close to the frame of the camera, that has misfired, hit the DoP, and then something has either come off the French Flag or the black box like a part of the camera and hit the director as well.’

But movie experts say even in those cases, there should be more safeguards in place.

‘If you are in the line of fire… You would have a face mask, you would have goggles, you would stand behind a Perspex screen, and you would minimize the number of people by the camera.

‘What I don’t understand in this instance is how two people have been injured, one tragically killed, in the same event,’ Steven Hall, who has worked on films such as Fury and The Imitation Game, told BBC.

‘They then make sure that the actor stands on a mark and never points the gun at the crew or cast… the editing makes it seem like they were pointing at their co-actor.

‘That’s why everyone in the industry is very confused. How this happened is a total mystery at the moment.’

Tristan added that he has worked with Baldwin before, on the set of 1998 film Thick as Thieves, calling him ‘very safe’ and a ‘total professional’.

‘I was surprised to hear it was him,’ he added.

Director James Cullen Bressack said afterwards he would never use blanks on his film sets again.

‘I will never use anything but airsoft and rubber guns on my movies ever again. This should never have happened. Halyna, you were a gem.

‘This is so f****d up,’ he said.

Actress Frances Fischer, who is part of the Rust crew, also confirmed that blanks were being used for the stunt.

Baldwin was taken for questioning by sheriff’s deputies after the fatal shooting, but was not arrested and has not been charged.

The sheriff’s department says its investigation is ongoing.

He was pictured outside the sheriff’s office doubled over with grief, and weeping while speaking on the phone. He refused to speak with a reporter from the New Mexican who was at the scene.

Wife Hilaria had uploaded a video showing her playing with two of the couple’s six children at 4am on Wednesday. The couple live in New York.

Filming of the movie – about a boy who is wrongly accused of murder, and which Baldwin is co-producing – has been indefinitely suspended while cast and crew recover. Counseling services are being offered, producers said.

Hutchins was Ukrainian-born and grew up in the USSR before studying journalism and working on ‘British documentary productions in Europe’, according to her personal website.

She subsequently moved to Los Angeles where she changed career to become a cinematographer, studying a two-year fine arts Masters at the AFI Conservatory between 2013 and 2015.

Social media posts suggest she gave birth to a son around the same time – who appears to have been born either late 2012 or early 2013.

The boy appears to be her only child with husband Matthew Hutchins, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who worked as an associated with firm Kirkland & Ellis until 2017. It is unclear what his current job is.

Baldwin is a co-producer on the film, in which he plays infamous outlaw Harland Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.

It was not immediately clear whether the prop gun that killed Hutchins was somehow loaded with real bullets, or if the gunpowder used in theatrical blank cartridges may have launched debris of some kind from the barrel. No further information has been offered on how Baldwin managed to strike two people, with the sheriff’s office continuing to investigate.

Representatives for Baldwin, Souza, and Rust’s executive producer did not immediately respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com late on Thursday.

Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin’s spokesperson issued a statement to People on the shooting, saying: ‘There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.’

Meanwhile, a spokesman for Rust Pictures LLC, which is producing the film, said: ‘The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today’s tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna’s family and loved ones.

The ranch on Friday morning was abandoned after filming was halted. The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department continues to interview ‘witnesses’

Baldwin and Hutchins (circled) are pictured together on the set of Rust, in an image that she uploaded to Instagram two days ago saying the crew of the film were supporting a strike by the IATSE union

‘We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department’s investigation. We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event’

Hutchins’ devastated friends were too distraught to talk, but Ariel Vida, a production designer who worked with the director of photography on 2020 film Archenemy confirmed her death to DailyMail.com, tearfully adding: ‘I’m sorry, I can’t talk about this right now.’

No criminal charges have been filed, but police said that a criminal investigation into the incident is currently active to determine the circumstances of Hutchins’ death.

‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said in a statement. ‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.’

‘The incident remains an active investigation. As more information becomes available, updates will be provided,’ he added.

Hutchins’ social media shows she was married to Matthew (pictured together), a Los Angeles-based lawyer. It is unclear when the pair married, but they have a son who was born either in late 2012 or early 2013

Alec Baldwin is seen on the set of Rust with fake blood earlier Thursday, hours before he shot and killed the film’s cinematographer. He shared this photo on Instagram with the caption ‘Back to in person at the office. Blimey…it’s exhausting.’ Filming was halted following the fatal incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe

She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master’s degree in cinematography and switching to movies

‘Kind and loving’ cinematographer killed in Alec Baldwin tragedy: Ukraine-born married mother Halyna Hutchins, 42, was raised on a Soviet military base surrounded by nuclear submarines, trained as a journalist and was tipped as a rising star in Hollywood

Sun streaming from above, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins smiles into the camera as she films herself riding off into the New Mexico desert on horseback.

This was the last Instagram post shared by the married mother-of-one before she was accidentally killed by actor Alec Baldwin when he fired a prop gun while filming a scene for an upcoming Western on a ranch near Santa Fe.

Born in Ukraine and raised on a Soviet military base ‘surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines’, Halyna, 42, had trained as a journalist and spent time in Europe working on British documentaries before making the move to Los Angeles, where she had established her career – and started a family.

Born in Ukraine and raised on a Soviet military base ‘surrounded by reindeer and submarines’, Halyna had recently wrapped on a project in Ireland and was tipped for a bright future in Hollywood when her life was so tragically cut short. Pictured, in 2018

Her social media profiles also paint a clear image of a free-spirited, much-loved friend, many of whom have been paying tribute. Pictured, a touching post by close friend Stephanie

Remembered by friends as a ‘kind’ and ‘loving soul’, Halyna lived in Venice Beach, California, with her husband Matthew, a lawyer, and their son Andros, known affectionately as her ‘little man’ and thought to be around nine years old.

‘Halyna loved him so much and enjoyed watching him grow into the handsome boy he is today,’ one friend wrote in a moving Instagram tribute. ‘I know she is looking after him and Matt in this horribly scary time.’

Social media photos capture a playfulness and sense of adventure, with Halloween costume parties, road trips with friends and days out exploring all lit up by Halyna’s smile.

She was also highly regarded by her peers and had been tipped as a ‘rising star’ by other cinematographers. ‘She was somebody who was absolutely dedicated to art and integrity,’ director, colleague and friend Adam Mortimer told GMB this morning. ‘I can tell already she was going to be a genius.’

Halya (right) on a visit back to Kiev in December 2018. She was raised on a military base in the country and later attended the National University of Kyiv, studying International Journalism

Remembered by friends as a ‘kind’ and ‘loving soul’, Halyna lived in Venice Beach, California , with her husband Matthew, a lawyer, and their son Andros, pictured in an old Facebook photo

Baldwin, 62, was filming a scene for new film Rust when the gun went off around 1.50pm, fatally wounding Hutchins and leaving writer-director Joel Souza, 48, injured. The incident took place at at Bonanza Creek Ranch.

Hutchins was rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital in an air ambulance but was pronounced dead a short time after.

Souza was taken by ambulance to the Christus St Vincent Regional Medical Center. He has since been released although his exact condition is unclear.

Will Stewart, Daily Mail’s Moscow correspondent, told how Halyna had worked for him in the mid-2000s.

‘This is devastating and incomprehensible news about the death of Halyna Hutchins. She worked for my news agency from Kyiv for several years in the mid-2000s after graduating from a local university in International Journalism.

‘Halyna was involved in many stories for British newspapers and magazines, but she showed a special talent for documentaries, perhaps her first taste of film in which she went on to be so successful in America.

‘At this time while she was with us, in 2006, she was Associate Producer on a documentary for Discovery Channel on Ukrainian icon Leonid Stadnyk called World’s Tallest Man, made by British company Wild Pictures.

‘She was instrumental in Mr Stadnyk feeling at ease taking part in the documentary which focused on the problems of being exceptionally tall.

‘The film, made by leading British director Richard Denton, with former BBC Head of Documentaries Paul Hamann as executive producer, would not have happened without her.

‘Mr Stadnyk, a shy man, trusted Halyna after refusing many other film offers, and thanked her afterwards.

‘Pictures ahead of the film shows him towering over Halyna at his home in the village of Podoliantsy.

‘She later went to the US with her husband Matt and accomplished great things through her huge talent and creativity but also her relentless determination to study and learn.

‘She once told my Russian colleagues that she felt she was a perpetual student in America, but her efforts paid off and she achieved the success she thoroughly deserved.

‘It is tragic that she died in such a cruel and inexplicable way while doing the job she so loved.

‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Matt and their son, and Halyna’s family in Ukraine.’

Richard Denton, producer behind Shakespeare Uncovered and many films in the former USSR, said today: “Halyna was the most wonderful, vital, lively and positive person to work with.

‘She was friendly and enormously helpful. She handled everything from translating interviews to making Leonid’s horse move in the right direction.

‘She was completely unpretentious and incredibly professional.’

Her death was ‘senseless and stupid.’

Bruce Lee’s son Brandon died in similar accident on The Crow set in 1993

Halyna Hutchins’ death is not the first time that a prop gun has killed someone during the filming of a movie.

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie The Crow.

The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.

Actor Brandon Lee (above) was killed on the set of The Crow in 1993 when a blank round fired a squib load from the prop gun

In that case, an investigation determined that a bullet became lodged in the barrel of the gun, a dangerous condition known as a squib load.

The crew had made dummy cartridges, which are supposed to look like a real bullet but be inert, by removing the gunpowder from real bullets, but they failed to remove the primer charge.

At some point, one of the dummy rounds was fired, and the primer pushed the bullet into the barrel, where it remained stuck unnoticed.

Brandon’s family, who run a Twitter account in his memory, tweeted this on Friday morning

Later, the gunpower in a blank cartridge, which creates the sound and muzzle flash of gunfire for film but has no bullet, propelled the squib load out of the gun’s barrel, striking Lee.

And in 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series Cover Up.

In that case, the paper wadding used to secure the gunpowder in the blank cartridge was expelled with enough force to shatter his skull near the temple, sending fragments into Hexum’s brain and causing massive hemorrhaging.

Filming for Rust was set to continue through early November, according to a news release from the New Mexico Film Office, but production has now been halted on the film.

The movie is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s Kansas, according to a synopsis.

The teen goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather, played by Baldwin, after the boy is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher.

Baldwin stars in the film alongside Travis Fimmel, Jensen Ackles and Frances Fisher.

Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin posted an Instagram photo from the Bonanza Creek Ranch, showing him in full costume, with fake blood on his abdomen. The photo was captioned: ‘Back to in person at the office. Blimey…it’s exhausting.’

His wife Hilaria also shared a screen grab from a FaceTime conversation with Baldwin earlier in the day, where he appears to be riding in a car on his way to the ranch.

The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western News of the World.

After the fatal shooting at the movie ranch, a 2017 tweet of Baldwin’s resurfaced, in which he responded to video of a police shooting in California by writing: ‘I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone…’

That police shooting was later ruled justified.

Following Thursday’s tragedy, friends took to Hutchins’ Instagram page to leave tributes underneath a video filmed two days ago that showed her riding a horse on her day off.

James Cullen wrote: ‘I will miss you my friend. This is devastating.’

Another friend Jack Caswell added: ‘I feel like I’ve had the wind knocked out of me. You will be so missed’ while Tina Presley Borek said: ‘Heartbroken.’

‘I’m so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set,’ said Archenemy director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter. ‘She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film.’

The International Cinematographers Guild also lamented Hutchins’ untimely death in a statement.

‘The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,’ guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said.

The tragic shooting death is reminiscent of the 1993 death of Bruce Lee’s son Brandon Lee on the set of The Crow, where a bullet that was lodged in the barrel of a prop gun was propelled out by a blank round, killing him.

‘Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust,’ tweeted Brandon Lee’s sister Shannon from a tribute account dedicated to her brother. ‘No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.’

Hutchins, who lived in Venice Beach, California, was considered one of Hollywood’s rising stars – named in a list of cinematographers to watch in 2019 by American Cinematographer.

The daughter of a soldier, Hutchins grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle before going to college in Ukrainian capital Kiev.

Directors and movie industry insiders said on Thursday night that even blank rounds can be dangerous and make them nervous on set

From 30 Rock to a bitter divorce, a homophobic slur and THAT Trump impression: Career highs and lows of Alec Baldwin

Baldwin as Jack Donaghy in 30 Rock, the show which made his name that he starred in from 2006 until 2013

Born in 1958, Alec Baldwin is the oldest and most famous of four actor brothers and cut his teeth on 1980s television shows such as ‘Knot’s Landing,’ before breaking through with lead roles in movies ‘Beetlejuice’ and ‘The Hunt for Red October.’

Baldwin played the lover of Kim Basinger in 1991’s ‘The Marrying Man,’ striking up a chemistry that would lead to their real-life wedding in 1993, and a Steve McQueen remake ‘The Getaway’ the following year.

Around the same time he earned a Tony nomination for his Broadway performance as Stanley Kowalski in ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ later resuming the role on screen.

Other 1990s roles included ‘Prelude to a Kiss’ opposite Meg Ryan, and a powerful cameo as a nasty real estate boss in ‘Glengarry Glen Ross’ opposite Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon.

Baldwin was sued over a violent altercation with a paparazzo in 1995.

Baldwin was also known for his 1993 marriage to Kim Basinger, and acrimonious divorce in 2002

Basinger and Baldwin separated in 2000, and he shifted toward smaller, supporting roles in films like ‘Pearl Harbor’ and ‘The Royal Tenenbaums.’

Baldwin made his first — and so far only — directing appearance in ‘Shortcut to Happiness,’ an adaptation of 1930s short story ‘The Devil and Daniel Webster.’ It flopped and never received a wide theatrical release.

But Baldwin’s career was rejuvenated by seven-season run in multiple-Emmy winning NBC comedy ’30 Rock,’ in which he frequently stole the show as the suave, mega-rich and eccentric boss of Tina Fey’s Liz Lemon.

Starting in 2006, the wildly popular show satirized the corporate-run entertainment industry, earned Baldwin personal Emmys and Golden Globes, and rejuvenated his film career.

He has appeared in films such as ‘It’s Complicated’ with Meryl Streep, Woody Allen’s ‘Blue Jasmine’ and two ‘Mission: Impossible’ movies.

Baldwin, well-known for his outspoken views and support of the Democratic Party, won a third Emmy in 2017 for his popular and biting ‘SNL’ impersonations of Trump.

His uncanny impersonation mocked the former president’s verbal tics and loose hand gestures and exaggerated his boastful style.

Now 63, Baldwin has continued to make headlines for his personal life.

In 2007, he left a notorious message for his then 11-year-old daughter with first wife Basinger, calling her a ‘rude, thoughtless little pig.’

In late 2013, NBC scrapped his late-night chat show after he allegedly subjected a photographer to a homophobic slur outside his apartment on the day that a Canadian actress convicted of stalking him was jailed.

In 2018, Baldwin was arrested and charged with assault after punching a man in the face during a New York parking dispute. He pleaded guilty to a harassment charge and agreed to attend an anger management program.

He lives near New York with second wife Hilaria. The couple have six children together.

She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master’s degree in cinematography and switching to movies.

Her credits include horror film Darlin and, shortly before starting work on Rust, she had completed filming on Blindfire – a crime drama starring Brian Geraghty and Sharon Leal.

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office says it responded to the movie set at around 1.50pm after a 911 caller indicated someone had been shot in the arm.

‘According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,’ the sheriff’s office said in a statement.

‘Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged,’ the statement added.

Police said that a 42-year-old female, later identified as Hutchins, was airlifted to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The director, Souza, was rushed by ambulance to Cristus St. Vincent’s Hospital where he is being treated for injuries. He was released last night.

‘There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of Rust involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks,’ read a statement from Rust Movie Productions LLC.

‘Two crew members have been taken to the hospital and are receiving care. Production has been halted for the time being. The safety of our cast and crew remains our top priority,’ the statement concluded.

Albuquerque’s KOB 4 news anchor Tessa Mentus tweeted a photo from her network’s chopper, showing a church set blocked off.

‘@santafesheriff investigating incident at #Rust movie set on Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe.

‘Pic from #Chopper4 shows an old church set blocked off, and set security confirms its lockdown,’ Mentus tweeted.

Another KOB 4 reporter, Giuli Frendak, shared a photo of a security gate, adding, ‘Security guard at the entrance to the set of Rust’, a western movie in production in #SantaFe, told us the set is on lockdown right now. Couldn’t share anything else.

‘Waiting for more details from Santa Fe Sheriff on today’s incident near Bonanza Creek.’

The fate of Rust is now up in the air following the tragic shooting. Baldwin is a co-producer on the film and plays infamous outlaw named Rust, who goes on the run with his grandson.

Ackles plays a U.S. Marshal, and Fimmel plays a bounty hunter who are on the pair’s tail as Rust tries to break his grandson out of prison.

An unexpected bond forms between the outlaw and his estranged grandson as they go on the run.

CAA Media Finance and Highland Film Group were launching sales on the film at last year’s Cannes virtual film market, with Baldwin producing through his El Dorado Pictures banner alongside Anjul Nigam and executive producer Matthew Helderman.

Baldwin and Nigam produced Souza’s previous feature, 2019’s Crown Vic.

Anna Granucci is also producing with Elizabeth L. Barbatelli as an executive producer.

New Mexico is a busy film location, and the Bonanza Creek Ranch has previously hosted star-studded productions including Hostiles, Cowboys & Aliens, 3:10 to Yuma, Appaloosa and Longmire.

It is not the first time that a prop gun has killed someone during the filming of a movie.

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late martial-arts star Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie The Crow.

The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.

In that case, an investigation determined that a bullet became lodged in the barrel of the gun when the crew failed to properly deactivate the primer in a dummy cartridge, which is supposed to look like a real bullet but be inert.

Later, the gunpower in a blank cartridge, which creates the sound and muzzle flash of gunfire for film, propelled the stuck bullet out of the gun’s barrel, striking Lee.

In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series Cover Up.

Security guards block Bonanza Creek Ranch near Santa Fe after Hutchins was killed in the shooting on set Thursday. In the film, Baldwin plays infamous outlaw Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder

The director, Souza, was rushed by ambulance to Cristus St. Vincent’s Hospital (above on Thursday night) where he is being treated for injuries, and is expected to survive

Hutchins, who lived in Venice Beach, California, was considered one of Hollywood’s rising stars – named in a list of cinematographers to watch in 2019 by American Cinematographer

Anjul Nigam, a producer on the movie, uploaded this image to Instagram two weeks ago showing the set of Rust which he captioned saying ‘day one’

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Officers respond to the scene of a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe. Authorities say a woman has been killed and a man injured Thursday after they were shot by a prop firearm

The fatal shooting appears to have occurred at the small church building (left) that is part of the sprawling movie ranch

Elijah Wood and director James Gunn lead industry reaction to ‘horrifying’ fatal shooting on set of Alec Baldwin’s new film

Celebrities and industry figures took to social media after learning of the tragic accident that occurred on the set of Alec Baldwin’s forthcoming film Rust on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

During the shoot, the actor, 63, accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded the film’s writer-director Joel Souza after his prop firearm unintentionally discharged.

Elijah Wood tweeted that Hutchins’ death is ‘absolutely horrifying and devastating,’ while director James Gunn admitted that his ‘greatest fear is that someone will be fatally hurt on one of my sets.’

Aside from highlighting the sadness, The League star Paul Scheer called the accident ‘beyond a tragedy and there are so many rules in place to make sure this can’t happen.’ He wrote: ‘I can’t even fathom how this is possible. So many people had to be negligent. This is a crime. Halyna was a tremendous talent. I’m sick to my stomach.’

Reactions: Elijah Wood and director James Gunn were some of the first industry figures to react to the tragic accident that occurred on the set of Alec Baldwin’s forthcoming film Rust on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico

Greatest fear: Director James Gunn revealed in a tweet that his ‘greatest fear is that someone will be fatally hurt on one of my sets’

Horrifying: Elijah Wood said that it was ‘absolutely horrifying and devastating’ to learn that Hutchins had been accidentally shot and killed by the actor’s prop gun

Hurt: Alec’s former co-star Debra Messing jumped to the star’s defense after a social media user hit out at the accident, as she wrote: ‘It is absolutely NOT. A prop gun was handed to him . He used it in the scene. Then- a catastrophic event happened where Halnya Hutchins lost her life and Joel Souza was injured. I am praying for all their families’

Should have never happened: Bill & Ted star Alex Winter, clearly disturbed by the tragedy, tweeted that film crews ‘should never be unsafe on set and when they are there is always a clearly definable reason why’

Beyond: The League star Paul Scheer called the accident ‘beyond a tragedy and there are so many rules in place to make sure this can’t happen’

Alec’s former co-star Debra Messing jumped to the star’s defense after a social media user hit out at the accident, as she wrote: ‘It is absolutely NOT. A prop gun was handed to him . He used it in the scene. Then- a catastrophic event happened where Halnya Hutchins lost her life and Joel Souza was injured. I am praying for all their families.’

The Santa Fe Sheriff’s Office confirmed that it was Baldwin who fired the prop gun, which unexpectedly launched a projectile or projectiles at Rust crew members. Production on the film has been halted and a police investigation has been launched, though no charges have been filed.

In a statement to Deadline, a spokesperson for Rust Movies Productions LLC communicated that ‘the entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today’s tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna’s family and loved ones.

The statement read: ‘We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department’s investigation.’

To help cast and crew cope with the tragedy, the production company ‘will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event.’

Wood went on to issue condolences to 42-year-old Hutchins’ mourning relatives, writing in his impassioned tweet: ‘My heart goes out to her family.’

Gunn, who is known for his directorial work on film like The Suicide Squad and Marvel’s Guardians Of The Galaxy, prayed that this tragic of an accident ‘will never happen’ during his career.’ The 55-year-old concluded: ‘My heart goes out to all of those affected by the tragedy today on Rust, especially Halyna Hutchins & her family’.

Bill & Ted star Alex Winter, clearly disturbed by the tragedy, tweeted that film crews ‘should never be unsafe on set and when they are there is always a clearly definable reason why.’

He tagged #IASolidarity on the post, relating the incident back to recent uproar regarding the poor treatment of crew members in the entertainment industry and a demand for better hours, healthcare, and safety protocols on sets.

Scheer included a portrait of Halyna Hutchins taken during the 2018 Sundance Film Festival.

Unimaginable: Filmmaker Mike Flanagan tweeted that his ‘heart breaks for the family and friends of Halyna Hutchins’ and reiterated that ‘this is just horrifying and devastating news’

Nightmare: ‘What an absolute nightmare. We lost a rising star, female cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, tweeted out director Amy J. Berg, who also shared a Deadline article detailing the accidental shooting

Heartbreaking: Actress-director Victoria Mahoney said that her ‘heart aches for Ms. Halyna Hutchins family, and loved ones’ before labeling her death not only ‘terrifying’ but ‘utterly heartbreaking’

Big fan: C. Robert Cargill, who is the mind behind the horror franchise Sinister and a critically acclaimed author, said that he ‘loved Halyna Hutchins’ work so much’ and that her death is ‘not only a tragic loss for cinema but to so many of you I know who worked with her’

Care more: ‘Filmmaking is very dangerous. And we need to care more about that. RIP #HalynaHutchins,’ tweeted Dara Dresnik, after listing her own near-fatal experiences she’s seen while working on various films

Precautions: Alex Press also stressed that fact that ‘safety needs to be taken more seriously’ in the entertainment industry

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