Baldw in’s fatal shot ‘was aimed at camera’

He was rehearsing scene while sitting

Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he fires towards the camera when he accidentally shot a crew member dead on set, it was revealed yesterday.

The actor drew his gun, which he believed was unloaded, and pointed it towards cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, court documents show.

Director Joel Souza told police that he heard ‘what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop’ before he was shot in the shoulder. Mrs Hutchins, who was standing in front of him, was hit in the chest.

In an affidavit, Souza said he had been looking over her shoulder as they prepared to film a gunfight scene for Rust inside a church on the set in New Mexico on Thursday.

Mrs Hutchins, 42, clutched her bleeding mid-section, stumbled backwards and was eased to the ground by colleagues as she complained she couldn’t feel her legs, he said. The Ukrainian-born mother and filmmaker was airlifted to hospital but died soon afterwards.

Yesterday one of the film’s costars shared pictures of her with Baldwin on set and of Mrs Hutchins riding a horse. Jensen Ackles said her death was ‘a tragedy of epic proportions that we are all still processing’.

Baldwin, 63, who plays an outlaw in Rust, a low budget western he co-wrote and produced, had been told the colt revolver he was using for the scene was ‘cold’ – industry jargon for unloaded or carrying blanks.

However, Souza revealed that after assistant director David Halls shouted the weapon was ‘cold’, the crew took a lunch break. He admitted he was not certain whether the gun was rechecked before it was used.

Souza told police that Baldwin, who was sitting in a pew, explained how he would pull the gun from its holster across his body in a ‘cross draw’ – but as he demonstrated this it went off.

cameraman Reid Russell told investigators Baldwin was usually careful about guns on the set. But insiders working on Rust have accused its makers of jeopardising safety to cut costs, in particular by hiring Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, as chief armourer. She recently told a podcast that guns were ‘not really problematic unless put in the wrong hands’.

chief electrician Serge Svetnoy said he believes she was the ‘wrong hands’, making clear he holds Miss Gutierrez-Reed chiefly responsible for the tragedy. He was ‘shoulder-toshoulder’ with Mrs Hutchins when she was shot, he said on social media. ‘I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands.’

He wrote: ‘There is no way a 24-year-old woman can be a professional with armoury. I understand that you always fight for the budget, but you cannot allow this to happen... professionals can cost a little more... but it is worth it.’

It remains unclear whether Baldwin believed the gun contained blanks or was empty.

Police have yet to confirm what sort of projectile killed Mrs Hutchins. Filming of Rust has been suspended.

‘Tragedy of epic proportions’