Baldwin in fatal set shooting

SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO: Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of a Western he was making in New Mexico on Thursday, killing the film’s director of photography and wounding the movie’s director, the authorities said.

The cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed, and the director, Joel Souza, 48, was injured around 1.50pm (local time) on the set of Rust, which is being filmed in Santa Fe County, said Juan Rios, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. The circumstances of the shooting are under investigation.

Mr Rios said the shooting at Bonanza Creek Ranch happened in the middle of a scene that was either being rehearsed or filmed. He said the Sheriff’s Office was interviewing people on the set to determine how the two had been shot.

“We’re trying to determine right now how and what type of projectile was used in the firearm,” he said.

Mr Rios said on Thursday night that the Sheriff’s Office had not filed charges against anyone in connection with the shooting.

Hutchins was flown to the University of New Mexico Hospital in Albuquerque, where she later died, Mr Rios said. Mr Souza was taken to Christus St Vincent Regional Medical Center in Santa Fe. His condition was not immediately available.

The film’s producers and a representative for Baldwin, 63, did not immediately respond to emails or phone calls Thursday night.

On Thursday morning, Baldwin posted a photo on Instagram in his film costume, which included what appeared to be a prosthetic wound on his torso.

According to Hutchins’ website, she was originally from Ukraine and grew up on a Soviet military base in the Arctic Circle.

She studied journalism in Ukraine and film in Los Angeles. She called herself a “restless dreamer” and an “adrenaline junkie” on her Instagram profile.