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Brandon Lee’s family speaks out after late actor’s name trends alongside news of Alec Baldwin gun misfire

Lee died aged 28 on the set of ‘The Crow’ after an actor fired a gun he believed was loaded with blanks

Annabel Nugent
Friday 22 October 2021 19:36 BST
Alec Baldwin shooting: Aerial shots of film set after prop gun misfired, killing cinematographer
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The family of late actor Brandon Lee has spoken out following news that cinematographer Halyna Hutchins has died after Alec Baldwin “discharged” a gun on the set of his film Rust.

Sante Fe County deputies were called to the set of Rust at the Bonanza Creek Ranch on Thursday afternoon (21 October).

The sheriff’s office revealed that two people had been shot, including 42-year-old cinematographer Hutchins, who was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital by helicopter, where she died.

Alec Baldwin shooting - update: Actor fatally shoots cinematographer and injures director with prop gun

Rust director Joel Souza was also injured in the accidental shooting. He has now been discharged from Christus St Vincent’s hospital.

Authorities have since confirmed that it was Baldwin who “discharged” the gun.

Many people have recalled the similar circumstances surrounding the death of Brandon Lee, whose name began trending on Twitter on Friday (22 October).

Lee – the son of the late action star Bruce Lee – was killed in 1993 on the set of The Crow after an actor fired a prop gun that he believed to be loaded with blanks.

It was later discovered that a fragment of a dummy shell had been left in the gun’s barrel. Lee died in hospital following hours of surgery. He was 28.

Lee’s sister, Shannon Lee, runs a Twitter account to honour her late brother’s legacy.

“Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on Rust,” she wrote in a post shared earlier today (22 October).

“No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.”

Others also remembered Lee in the wake of Hutchins’s death.

“Hollywood learned [sic] NOTHING from Brandon Lee’s accidental death,” wrote one user on Twitter.

Journalist Mark Harris added: “One of the first stories I ever covered as a journalist was the accidental death of Brandon Lee. It left me with a lifelong dread of guns on set. This is horrific.”

“Everyone of my generation immediately thought of Brandon Lee and this is a horrifying situation,” said someone else.

Film fans have paid tribute to Hutchins and remembered her work as a cinematographer.

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