Alec Baldwin: Prop gun that killed Halyna Hutchins contained ‘live single round’, union says

Alec Baldwin has said he is ‘fully cooperating’ with authorities

Halyna Hutchins (Instagram)

A prop gun that Alec Baldwin fired on the set of the movie Rust, which killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza, contained a “live single round”, a film union says.

The IATSE’s Local 44 union emailed members to say the round was “accidentally fired”.

“A live single round was accidentally fired on set by the principal actor, hitting both the Director of Photography, Local 600 member Halyna Hutchins, and Director Joel Souza,” the union told members.in an email obtained by Variety.

“Both were rushed to the hospital. Unfortunately, we lost Sister Hutchins who passed from the wound.”

IATSE Local 44’s Secretary-Treasurer Anthony Pawluc wrote in the email to members that the shooting was “an accidental weapons discharge.”

“Local 44 has confirmed that the Props, Set Decoration, Special Effects and Construction Departments were staffed by New Mexico crew members,” Mr Pawluc said.

“There were no Local 44 members on the call sheet. On behalf of Local 44’s Officers, Executive Board and Staff, our thoughts and prayers go out to Halyna and her family. We also send good thoughts to Joel and his family for a full recovery.”

Alec Baldwin posted a statement on his social media accounts on Friday to say his “heart is broken”.

“There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours,” the actor wrote.

Mr Baldwin said he was “fully cooperating” with the police investigation, and had been in contact with Ms Hutchins’ husband Matthew.

Ms Hutchins showed her support for the IATSE union in an Instagram post on Tuesday (Instagram.com/HalynaHutchins)

Earlier this week, Ms Hutchins posted a message in support of the IATSE union, whose 60,000 members had been planning to go on strike over poor working conditions days before her death.

Ms Hutchins posted a photo to her Instagram account on Tuesday with the cast and crew of the movie, including Mr Baldwin, showing her support for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees labour union on Tuesday.

The union called off strike action on Saturday, which would have seen production on TV and films across the United States shut down.