Agony of girl in charge of Alec Baldwin’s fatal gun

● Expert says he should have known you never point a firearm at anyone – loaded or not ● Police investigate mystery of why live round was in the weapon that killed cinematographer

ALEC BALDWIN has been accused of breaking the ‘golden rule’ of Hollywood gun safety by pointing a weapon directly at tragic colleague Halyna Hutchins.

The devastated actor is said to be ‘inconsolable’ after accidentally shooting dead cinematographer Ms Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza on the set of his £4.4million western, Rust, on Thursday.

The 63-year-old said he had no idea the gun was ‘hot’ – the official term for a weapon containing live bullets – but gun expert Zak Knight said last night: ‘There should have never been live rounds on a movie set, that’s number one.

‘Number two is that every single person on a movie set has a right to inspect a weapon before it’s fired. And number three is, there is no reason to ever put a person in front of a weapon that’s firing.

‘Any time you see a movie where the barrel is pointed down the camera lens, there should not be an operator behind it. This accident was caused by a cascade of failures.’

Veteran gun expert Bill Davis said live bullets should ‘never be anywhere near’ a set, adding: ‘It’s basic stuff. How did that live round get on set? You shall not have ammunition on a movie set, ever. It’s not a may – it’s a shall.’

As more details of the tragedy were revealed, it emerged:

● T he 24-year-old woman in charge of gun safety on the set recently admitted she ‘wasn’t sure’ she was ready for such an important job;

● A search warrant filed by sheriffs on Friday confirmed a ‘live round’ killed Ms Hutchins;

● Investigators seized Baldwin’s cowboy outfit and are examining it for ‘blood and body tissue’;

● The shooting may have been captured on film, with producers ordered to hand over footage, including any on mobile phones;

● Six crew members walked off set just hours before the shot was fired, citing ‘unsafe working conditions’.

On Friday night, a tearful Baldwin hugged Matthew Hutchins, the husband of the tragic 42-year-old cinematographer, and their nineyear-old son Andros at a private memorial service.

‘It was deeply emotional. Everyone was crying,’ said a source. The actor was being comforted by his wife Hilaria, who flew to New Mexico by private jet after her husband was photographed doubled over in grief.

But insiders painted a troubling picture of a movie set ‘in chaos’ with reports of three cases of guns ‘accidentally’ discharging in the days before the tragedy and of six union crew walking away from the project last Thursday to be replaced by cheaper local workers.

Witnesses also provided details of Ms Hutchins’s final moments after three vintage Colt pistols were placed on a gray plastic trolley outside a wooden church where a ‘gunfight’ scene was being filmed.

As Ms Hutchins, Mr Souza, 48, and a cameraman huddled around a camera, assistant director Dave Halls handed one of the guns to Baldwin and shouted: ‘Cold gun!’ – the Hollywood term for an unloaded weapon.

Moments later – at 1.50pm – there was a loud bang as Baldwin aimed the gun directly at the camera. It is

‘An accident caused by a cascade of failures’

not known if he pulled the trigger or if the gun accidentally discharged but two of the three people behind the camera were hit.

Ms Hutchins had a gaping wound in her chest while Mr Souza had a wound to his collarbone and was sitting on the ground looking dazed.

‘The bullet went through her and hit him,’ a witness said.

Baldwin, whose credits include The Hunt For Red October and several Mission: Impossible movies, was ‘confused and in deep shock’ as he paced around, saying over and over again: ‘In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun.’ As on-set medics raced to Ms Hutchins, script supervisor Mamie Mitchell ran to an office in one of the outbuildings on the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe and dialled 911.

‘We need an ambulance out at Bonanza Creek Ranch right now!

We have had two people shot on a movie set,’ she pleaded.

‘We need help immediately. Come on! Our director and our camerawoman have been shot!’

Ms Hutchins was pronounced dead at a local hospital, but Mr Souza was discharged on Friday. In a statement, he said: ‘I am gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague, Halyna. She was kind, vibrant, incredibly talented, fought for every inch and always pushed me to be better.’

Ironically, Ms Hutchins had been calling for safety to be ‘stepped up’ and was in tears when ‘her’ six camera operators and assistants left on Thursday. ‘I feel like I’m losing my best friends,’ she reportedly said. A spokesman for the Sante Fe sheriffs’ department last night refused to speculate on any criminal charges, saying: ‘Our investigators remain at the ranch and the investigation is ongoing.’

Rust, which is set in 1880s Kansas, tells the story of a man whose grandson is wrongly accused of

‘All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush’

murder after an accidental shooting. The tragedy took place on the 12th day of a planned 21-day shoot.

It was reported that crew members who had flown to the remote desert set from Los Angeles had been complaining about unsafe working conditions.

According to three accounts provided to the LA Times newspaper, a stuntman accidentally fired two rounds last Saturday inside a cabin after being told the gun was ‘cold’.

‘There should have been an investigation into what happened,’ a crew member said. ‘There were no safety measures. There was no assurance that it wouldn’t happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush.’

There was reportedly a third incident of a weapon being accidentally discharged on set, but no more details have emerged.

The fatal shooting happened during a scene in which Baldwin’s character had been involved in a gunfight inside the church and was backing up to leave the building, while shooting at his assailants.

The actor pulled his gun from the holster the first time without incident, but then drew it again and fired directly at the camera.

‘We still don’t know if he pulled the trigger or if it went off by accident,’ said a source. Baldwin yesterday retweeted an article which stated he had no idea the weapon was loaded.

In an earlier statement, he said: ‘There are no words to convey my shock and sadness... My heart is broken for her husband, their son and all who knew and loved Halyna.’

While it is thought unlikely that Baldwin will face criminal charges over the accident, he may be named in any civil suit because he is one of the film’s producers. A Hollywood source said: ‘The film is toast.

‘Clearly no-one believes Alec holds any responsibility for the tragedy but he’s a producer and producers are in charge of the budget.’