User:Rath460/sandbox/Rust shooting accident

Note: As this is a very recent incident, there are still ongoing news development on it as of the creation of this article. "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 cooperating 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."

- Alec Baldwin sending his condolences on his now-deleted Twitter account

On October 21, 2021, during the filming of the upcoming American Western action film Rust, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally shot and director Joel Souza was injured on the set when a prop revolver discharged a live round while being used by actor Alec Baldwin, who plays the movie's main character Harland Rust.

The accident has since been compared to the The Crow shooting accident that killed Brandon Lee, which coincidentally also involved live rounds misplaced in prop guns and caused the movie's production and release date to be delayed indefinitely.

Accident
During the filming of a scene involving Baldwin's character Harland Rust taking his revolver out of its holster and aiming it at the camera, no protective gear like safety goggles and noise-cancelling headphones were present when the B-camera operator Reid Russell was filming the scene behind a monitor alongside Hutchins and Souza.

After repositioning the camera and monitor to remove a shadow, Baldwin was demonstrating how he'd fire the gun when it unintentionally discharged without him pulling the trigger, sending a live bullet flying behind the monitor towards them before striking Hitchins in the chest and Souza in the shoulder. The incident was not filmed.

Script supervisor Mamie Mitchell called 9-1-1 at 1:46 p.m. PT (GMT -8) and emergency crews appeared three minutes later. Hutchins was air-flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead. Souza was treated by EMS and transported by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe, where he was admitted and released by the following morning.

The accident caused the movie's production and release date to be delayed indefinitely.

Investigation
On October 21, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said it was investigating "what type of projectile was discharged" and how the event occurred. Baldwin was questioned and left without charges filed.

Investigations reveal that the production's property key assistant and armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed had been criticized for her extremely poor weapons handling skills that caused her to make an actor walk out of the set (she made Nicholas Cage do so during the filming of The Old Way after misfiring a gun ).

Former colleagues of the film's assistant director Dave Halls have also criticized him for his blatant ignorance of safety procedures too, revealing that he had blatantly ignored safety protocols during the production of two episodes of Into the Dark, got fired from the production of the upcoming film Freedom's Path after a firearm discharged unexpectedly on set and wounded a crew member  and had received numerous complaints against him regarding his reputation during the production of the upcoming film The Tiger Rising.