This was the moment when Alec Baldwin shot and caused death in a film

Actor Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene in which he pointed a prop pistol at the camera lens when he fatally shot director of photography Halyna Hutchins, according to US media, citing an affidavit from the film’s director about the tragedy.

The film’s director, Joel Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins when the gun was fired, said he heard what “sounded like a whip and then a loud bang,” according to his statement released Sunday night. Americans.

Baldwin was “sitting in a pew on set, practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over Halayna’s shoulder ”, when he heard the shot, the chain related NBC News.

According to Souza’s affidavit, Hutchins was “complaining” of a pain in his stomach at the time.

“Joel also said that Halayna started to stumble backward and was assisted into setting her on the ground,” according to the NBC. “Joel explained that he was bleeding from his shoulder and that he could see blood on Halayna.”

Hutchins, 42, was hit in the chest Thursday when Baldwin fired the prop pistol – which he had been told was safe – while filming the low-budget western. Rust, in New Mexico. She was pronounced dead at the hospital hours later.

The search warrants reveal how Assistant Principal Dave Halls turned the gun over to Baldwin, claiming it was “a cold pistol” without realizing there were live bullets in the chamber. He had been working with the “inexperienced” gunsmith Hannah Gutiérrez-Reed.

At 1:50 p.m., Baldwin was preparing for the scene, sitting on a pew in the set’s church, when Halls handed him the gun. What exactly happened next is unclear, but director Souza described hearing a ¡pop! and then see Halyna hurt.

Souza, 48, was treated by doctors and released.

Police are still investigating the shooting and executed a search warrant on set.

Baldwin has been interviewed by detectives in Santa Fe and has said he is fully cooperating with the investigation.

Attention has also focused on the film’s assistant director, Dave Halls, who handed the gun over to the actor, and the gunsmith, 24-year-old Hannah Gutierrez-Reed. However, no charges have been filed and no arrests have been made.

The incident occurred after a lunch break, Souza said in the affidavit, adding that he was not sure whether the safety of the weapon had been rechecked after the break.

A camera operator claimed that the incident was not recorded, because the cast and crew were still preparing for the scene.

The new details emerged as Hutchins’ shocked friends and colleagues gathered to pay tribute Sunday at a vigil displaying their anguish and anger.

Calls for the banning of live firearms on movie sets have been growing: a petition gathered more than 20,000 signatures and a Californian legislator announced that he would push for a bill to ban live ammunition on movie sets. state.

Production on the film has now been halted while authorities continued to investigate. In an email to the team Sunday night, movie producers encouraged staff not to speak to the press about the accident. (I)