Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

Alec Baldwin fatally shoots woman with prop gun on movie set

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g3org3y

Original Poster:

21,107 posts

198 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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BBC said:
A woman has died and a man has been injured after actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a New Mexico film set.

Police in the US state said Mr Baldwin discharged the weapon during filming for the 19th Century western Rust.

The woman was taken to hospital but died of her injuries. The man, the film's director, was receiving emergency care.

Detectives are investigating the incident at Bonanza Creek Ranch, a popular filming location.

The woman has been named as 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins, who was working as director of photography. The man being treated is Joel Souza, 48, the film's director.

Police said their investigation remains open and active, and no charges have yet been filed in relation to the incident.
Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-5900550...

frown

FYI how blanks work: https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/71752/how-do-b...

RichTT

3,147 posts

178 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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"Mr Baldwin is a co-producer of the film and plays its namesake, an outlaw whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder."

Life imitating art?

Feel for the guy, must be awful.

Although I can never not say his name the way that Kim Jong Il says it in Team America: World Police.

eccles

13,812 posts

229 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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I'm sure this plot line has been used in Murder she wrote and Columbo many times!

V8 Stang

4,402 posts

190 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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eccles said:
I'm sure this plot line has been used in Murder she wrote and Columbo many times!
I can remember in the Hitman game, this was how you killed the actor, by swapping his prop gun with a real one.

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

115 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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It’s happened for real before, Brandon Lee in The Crow.

It’s a strange situation, lot of questions to be answered but the main one is obviously why was Baldwin firing a blanks loaded gun at the crew? There is no need for it.

Tom Logan

3,428 posts

132 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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ZedLeg said:
It’s happened for real before, Brandon Lee in The Crow.

It’s a strange situation, lot of questions to be answered but the main one is obviously why was Baldwin firing a blanks loaded gun at the crew? There is no need for it.
You seem to have more information on this than has been released.

Do tell.

Red9zero

7,911 posts

64 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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eccles said:
I'm sure this plot line has been used in Murder she wrote and Columbo many times!
And Rosemary & Thyme

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

115 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Just inferring from what I’ve read about it.

I’m guessing he was doing a shot where he fired into the camera. Using a real gun and blanks for that kind of shot is an unnecessary risk these days.

louiechevy

668 posts

200 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Blanks are dangerous its as simple as that, the gun shouldn't of been fired at members of the crew.

When filming the guns will in fact be aimed to the side of the other actor and a camera angle to hide this will be used, close up gun shots tend to use airsoft guns now and the muzzle flash and sound is added later.

Here's a page about it.

https://ascmag.com/blog/filmmakers-forum/filming-w...

PeteinSQ

2,333 posts

217 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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They had an armourer on radio 5 talking about it a bit earlier. For some reason they tend to use real guns on the sets of westerns. He also couldn't understand why any gun would actually be pointed at a member of the crew or any of the actors.

Seems like a real tragedy, and I feel sorry for everyone involved and their families.

Pebbles167

3,773 posts

159 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Tom Logan said:
ZedLeg said:
It’s happened for real before, Brandon Lee in The Crow.

It’s a strange situation, lot of questions to be answered but the main one is obviously why was Baldwin firing a blanks loaded gun at the crew? There is no need for it.
You seem to have more information on this than has been released.

Do tell.
Brandon Lee was killed by a squib loaded gun, meaning it already had a projectile suck in the barrel when a blank was fired, effectively meaning the shot was a live one.

As for the rest of it, he's just saying what's in the news articles, nothing more. It is a strange situation, being that the woman that died was directing photography, and the injured man was the director.

Drumroll

3,984 posts

127 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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PeteinSQ said:
They had an armourer on radio 5 talking about it a bit earlier. For some reason they tend to use real guns on the sets of westerns. He also couldn't understand why any gun would actually be pointed at a member of the crew or any of the actors.

Seems like a real tragedy, and I feel sorry for everyone involved and their families.
A previous poster alluded to a possible reason members of the crew were hit. If the gun was not actually aimed at another actor but off to the side. Still doesn't explain how live ammo ended in the gun.

ZedLeg

12,278 posts

115 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Extremely unlikely that it was live ammunition. It’s more likely that a misfire blocked the barrel and then was fired with the next round

V88Dicky

7,321 posts

190 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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ZedLeg said:
Extremely unlikely that it was live ammunition. It’s more likely that a misfire blocked the barrel and then was fired with the next round
Revolvers don’t work like that (assuming it was something like a Colt Peacemaker as it was a western)


Blanks fired from real guns are still dangerous, as the explosive gasses and small particles of metals / cardboard / plastic / wax are ejected forward through the barrel.

Minimum safe distance for crimped blanks is 3 feet, but personally I wouldn’t want to be anywhere near that distance!

croyde

23,933 posts

237 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Jeez! Awful for the family of the lady who died and for the injured guy.

How the hell will Alec live with himself now he has that on his conscious for the rest of his life.

Terrible.

Stick Legs

5,941 posts

172 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Aside from the personal tragedy for all involved, I presume that this will be a case of misadventure or whatever the US equivalent is, the armourer who loaded the gun, the person who co-ordinated the stunt are as culpable as the man who pulled the trigger.
Once investigated, providing no malice or malpractice is discovered then I guess a very large insurance pay out will be made & you won’t see Alec Baldwin for a few years as he keeps out of the public eye.

I seriously doubt anyone will go to jail.

gotoPzero

18,184 posts

196 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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From whats happened it sounds to me like possibly corners have been cut. It sounds like a fairly low budget production and maybe they did not bring an armourer on set?

Its very, very unusual for real guns to be used in films even since the 70s or 80s most prop guns are modified in some way to ensure its safe. Dirty Harry Model 29 for example always had welded cylinders. When blank firing guns are used they are normally dedicated blank firing guns which wont chamber a real round. 8mm blanks for example. 9mm wont even chamber.

Sounds like someone has dropped the ball big time.

Supercilious Sid

2,645 posts

168 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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Harry H

3,528 posts

163 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
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gotoPzero said:
From whats happened it sounds to me like possibly corners have been cut. It sounds like a fairly low budget production and maybe they did not bring an armourer on set?

Its very, very unusual for real guns to be used in films even since the 70s or 80s most prop guns are modified in some way to ensure its safe. Dirty Harry Model 29 for example always had welded cylinders. When blank firing guns are used they are normally dedicated blank firing guns which wont chamber a real round. 8mm blanks for example. 9mm wont even chamber.

Sounds like someone has dropped the ball big time.
Hmmm

On LBC they had a chap from the largest movie gun supplier and he said they use real guns in westerns only with blanks. They are never pointed at anyone and the actor is never responsible for loading the weapon.

Definitely a case for Mrs Marple/ Columbo this one. How did a real bullet get in the gun and why did Alec Baldwin point it at the crew member. One person died and another injured. Assuming a single shot there's no way the theory of a previously used cartridge becoming a bullet would travel through a person killing them to injure another.

Edited by Harry H on Friday 22 October 10:12

Supercilious Sid

2,645 posts

168 months

Friday 22nd October 2021
quotequote all
ZedLeg said:
Extremely unlikely that it was live ammunition. It’s more likely that a misfire blocked the barrel and then was fired with the next round
Thank god we have a firearms expert here to inform us.