An assistant director unwittingly handed Baldwin the loaded weapon – and told him it was safe to use – in the moments before Baldwin fatally shot Halyna Hutchins in the chest on the New Mexico set, court records show.“Cold gun!”, the assistant director shouted, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court.The assistant director, Dave Halls, and Baldwin had no idea the prop contained real bullets. Instead, the gun was loaded with live rounds, and when Baldwin pulled the trigger on the set of Western period drama Rust, it hit and killed cinematographer Hutchins, and injured the movie’s director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her.No charges have been laid. Baldwin addressed the tragedy, saying he was “broken” and in a state of “shock” over the horrific on-set indecent. In a statement, Baldwin said: “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours”.“I’m fully co-operating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family.“My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”In the wake of the incident, Baldwin is said to have asked: “Why was I handed a hot gun?”The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office sought Baldwin’s bloodstained costume as evidence, as well as the weapon that was fired, other prop guns and ammunition, and any footage that might exist.The court documents stated that the gun was one of three that the film’s armourer, Hannah Gutierrez Reed, had set on a cart outside a wooden structure where a scene was being performed.An affidavit stated she had arranged the guns on the cart. After the incident, she took the gun back and removed a spent casing before handing it to the sheriff’s deputies.Gutierrez Reed, 24, had recently completed her first film as head armourer on The Old Way starring Nicolas Cage.She is also the daughter of the famous armourer and movie gun consultant Thell Reed.A Detective wrote Halls had grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with real bullets, per the search warrant application.It was unclear how many rounds were fired and little was known about the weapon.The sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said Baldwin was permitted to travel. “He’s a free man,” Rios said.Deputies are also searching for video from the set that might have captured the incident.Meantime, serious safety concerns had been raised on set prior to the fatal shooting, the New York Post claimed. The crew member in charge of the prop gun was a non-union worker hired to replace a union member. The yet-to-be-identified worker was “just brought in” prior to the fatal shooting that killed Hutchins and injured Souza, a source said.The Post reported that a crew of “unionised workers” had walked off the set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch over safety concerns even before Baldwin fired the gun later that day.Those workers were replaced by a non-union crew, the source said.It was also alleged that the prop gun misfired on three prior occasions during the week, per the Los Angeles Times.“There was a serious lack of safety meetings on this set,” a source said, according to the Times.Chilling audio of the 911 phone call, obtained by gossip site TMZ, featured a frantic plea by a crew member, who identified herself as the movie’s script supervisor.Authorities in New Mexico called for a helicopter to be sent “quickly” in the wake of the Alec Baldwin film set shooting.“We have two people accidentally shot on a movie set by a prop gun. We need help immediately,” she said.“Everybody should be bringing some help. (The) director and our camerawoman have been shot.”The crew member could be heard blaming the incident on someone whose name was censored.“OK, this f***king [bleep] that yelled at me at lunch asking about revisions, this mother***ker,” she is reported to have said in the call, per TMZ.“He’s supposed to check the gun,” she is heard saying in the call to 911.Hutchins, 42, died from her injuries while director Souza, 48, was hospitalised with a gunshot wound to his shoulder.Hutchins’ grieving husband, Matthew, told theDaily Mail that he had spoken to Baldwin and that the actor had been “very supportive”.Meantime, sources close to Baldwin said the actor was “devastated” by the tragedy, and there were immediate concerns about his mental health.A source close to the star told the Post: “Alec is absolutely devastated, distraught, in shock and in disbelief how this could have happened”.“Yes, he can be hot-headed, but deep down Alec has a very good heart.“But he’s a fragile guy, and we don’t know how he will ever come to terms with this.”The accident happened on Thursday afternoon, local time, while Baldwin was filming Rust at Bonanza Creek Ranch in Sante Fe.Hutchins was rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital via helicopter and died while being transported. A representative for Souza said he was treated at Christus St Vincent’s Hospital and has since been released.In a statement, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office said Hutchins and Souza “were shot when a prop firearm was discharged by Alec Baldwin, 68, producer and actor”.“According to investigators it appears the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,” it said. “Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.” Baldwin is “fully co-operating” with the investigation.
Source: Sun Herald
