---
October 23 2021
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-59006905
---

On a film set, a real-life tragedy has happened.

Police say US actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun
that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and
wounded director Joel Souza on a film set in New
Mexico. They were working on the film Rust.

Tributes have been paid to Ms Hutchins, 42, while
Mr Baldwin is said to be distraught. One local paper
found him in tears outside Santa Fe County Sheriff's
Office.

An investigation is under way and we don't exactly
know yet what went wrong. A spokesman for Mr
Baldwin said there had been an accident on the set
involving the misfire of a prop gun.

Court submissions later showed an assistant direc-
tor, Dave Halls, had handed the gun to Mr Baldwin.
It contained a live round but Mr Halls said he did
not know that, and indicated it was unloaded by
shouting "cold gun!"

.... Others working in film wondered why, at a time
when gun effects can be cheaply added using com-
puters, blanks are still being used at all.

"There's no reason to have guns loaded with blanks
or anything on set anymore. Should just be fully out-
lawed," tweeted Craig Zobel, an actor and director
whose credits include Westworld and Mare of East-
town.

"Prop guns are guns," TV writer David Slack tweeted.
"Blanks have real gunpowder in them. They can in-
jure or kill - and they have. If you're ever on a set
where prop guns are treated without proper caution
and safe handling, walk away.

"No show or shot is worth risking people's lives," he
added.

Video: Alec Baldwin expresses shock after
prop gun he was using killed Halyna Hutchins
https://youtu.be/L_IqL_BEIsE

--- --- ---