Grim details over Rust shooting and Halyna Hutchins last moments

Details of the 911 call have been released, and Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria has taken to social media to express her heartbreak.
 

Heartbreaking new details have been released about the fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, on the set of Alec Baldwin’s latest movie project, Rust. 

Court documents containing previously unreleased statements from director Joel Souza and a cameraman on set were released on Monday AEST by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office – and provide critical details about the moments leading to the death of Hutchins.

Want to join the family? Sign up to our Kidspot newsletter for more stories like this. 

Matthew and Halyna Hutchins with their son Andros. Source: Instagram.

RELATED: Son’s heartbreaking reaction to mum being shot by Alec Baldwin

The court documents

The affidavit was sourced by the New York Timesand cites Detective Joel Cano using it to successfully obtain a search warrant “to seize everything from camera memory cards to bone fragments and firearm discharge”. 

Juan Rios, spokesperson for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s office, told the Times: “Detectives entered the movie set today and continue to interview potential witnesses.

“Apparently there were quite a few people at the scene of what happened.”

Separate from the affidavit, the chief electrician on the movie also shared that in Hutchins’ last moments, he held her in his arms “while she was dying”.

Halyna Hutchins at work. Source: supplied

RELATED:Boy accidentally shoots brother in head

The 911 call

TMZ has reported they have obtained details of the 911 emergency call , stating that the film’s script supervisor told the operator that two people had been accidentally shot by a prop gun and that, “we need help immediately.” 

The caller adds that she does not know how serious the bleeding on either victim is.

An unidentified male takes over the call and states that both victims are alert and being attended to by a medic.

Hilaria Baldwin posts on Instagram

Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria took to Instagram to say “there are no words because it is impossible to express the shock and heartbreak of such a tragic accident.”

Hilaria Baldwin expresses her heartbreak. Source: Instagram @hilariabaldwin

Baldwin was rehearsing

The court documents give further context to the shooting, with a picture of the last photo of Hutchins on set. It shows Baldwin inside a small church, surrounded by wooden pews. Hutchins can be seen among five other cast members. According to the documents, Baldwin was among the pews rehearsing a scene with the prop revolver.

Souza is standing alongside Hutchins, and according to the affidavit, “viewing the camera angle”.

Baldwin was “practising” and drawing a revolver across his body and pointing it “towards the camera lens” when the weapon was fired and struck Hutchins in the chest.

“Joel stated that they had Alec sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practising a cross draw,” the affidavit reads.

“Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of Halyna, when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop.

“Joel then vaguely remembers (Hutchins) complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection.

“Joel also said (Hutchins) began to stumble backwards and she was assisted to the ground.

“Joel explained that he was bleeding from his shoulder and he could see blood on Halyna.”

Alec Baldwin, and Hutchins with her husband and son. Source: supplied

Cameraman Reid Russell, who was “standing near” Hutchins, recalled she said she could not feel her legs after being shot.

Baldwin had been handed the prop gun by the film’s assistant director, Dave Halls, and was told it was unloaded. He fired after Halls yelled, “Cold gun”.

Souza told investigators he wasn’t sure if the gun had been checked since the crew had returned from their lunch break.

Russell was also unsure if the prop gun was ready to be fired but said Baldwin had been “very careful”. The shooting was not filmed.

Russell said that before the accident, “the camera crew was having issues with production involving payment and housing”, with at least six crew members walking out.

Souza said there were “delays” due to the walkout but believed “everyone was getting along”.

The armourer who handled the “loaded gun” before the fatal shooting on Baldwin’s set has shut down her social media accounts.

Hannah Gutierrez Reed, 24, was described as being “inexperienced and green” by a Rust production source, who claimed that she should have checked the weapons were safe before handing it to Baldwin.

On the set of Rust. Source: supplied

‘I was holding her in my arms while she was dying’

Meanwhile Serge Svetnoy, the chief electrician on the set of Rust, confirmed that he was on scene when the “tragedy” occurred, blaming “negligence and unprofessionalism”.

“Yes, I was standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Halyna during this fatal shot that took her life and injured the director Joel Souza,” he said.

“I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands.

“I do not wish anyone to go through what I went through, what her husband Matt Hutchins and her son Andros went through, and the actor Alec Baldwin, who has been handed a gun on set.

“He has to live with the thought that he took the life of the human because of unprofessional people.”

Svetnoy thanked cameraman Russell and the set medic, Cherlyn Schaefer, “who did everything she could to save Halyna’s life”.

“We all loved Halyna,” he said. “May God Bless her soul.”

Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words. Our loss is enormous, and we ask that the media please respect my family’s privacy as we process our grief. We thank everyone for sharing images and stories of her life. pic.twitter.com/LgEp4XVkja

— Matt Hutchins (@mhutchins) October 23, 2021

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

No one has been charged over the incident. Santa Fe police did not respond to news.com.au’s inquiries overnight but the investigation remains “active”.

A distraught Baldwin, 63, was pictured hugging the husband and son of Hutchins — Matt and nine-year-old Andros — on Saturday morning at a hotel in Santa Fe.

At a candlelight vigil on Saturday, Hutchins said in a statement that his wife’s death was an “enormous loss”.

Baldwin on set. Source: supplied

Production on the movie has been halted “until investigations are complete”, according to Deadline, which cites a letter from the cast and crew which says production will be stopped for “an undetermined period of time”.

Baldwin openly stated that he is fully cooperating with the police investigation.

He also gave public support to the devastated family on social media.

My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna,” he wrote on Twitter.

“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.”

ncG1vNJzZmhqZGy7psPSmqmorZ6Zwamx1qippZxemLyue8Snq56qpJa2r7nEp6ton6Keum6wxK2YoqSjYry3sdFmqa6rpGLAqbvOraCnn12Wu6V5x5qjsqaRYrW2wMKhoKerXaGutMCMpqamnZ6pwHA%3D