Prop gun kills crew member on Alec Baldwin film set

Police and first responders answered a call Thursday afternoon at a ranch in the New Mexico desert where film crews were shooting for an upcoming movie. Actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop gun, injuring director Joel Souza and fatally wounding cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, age 42. Prop guns fire blank gunpowder charges to produce a flash and loud noise rather than bullets. But the gun Baldwin was given to rehearse with was loaded with live rounds, according to court records. Baldwin said the tragedy was an accident and that he is complying with the investigation. Over the weekend, a crew member said she raised concerns in the past about the culture of safety on film sets and about a specific assistant director on the Baldwin movie.

Who was Halyna Hutchins? Hutchins was a Ukrainian citizen who fell in love with movies as a child on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle. She moved to the United Kingdom as a journalist before transitioning to documentary filming. She then relocated to Los Angeles to attend film school and begin a career shooting action and horror movies. She leaves behind a husband and a son.