Alec Baldwin fires prop gun killing 1 and injuring another while filming ‘Rust.’ New Mexico officials claim

Actor Alec Baldwin shot a prop gun on Thursday that killed Halyna Hutchins, the film’s director of photography, and left Joel Souza, the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, with injuries.

The film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed, and Joel Souza, 48, was injured when Baldwin, 63, discharged a prop firearm, the sheriff’s office said in a statement Thursday evening.

Souza was taken to the hospital by ambulance and was receiving emergency care, officials said.

“An accident occurred today at the New Mexico Rust set. It involved the misfired of a gun with blanks.” a spokesperson for Baldwin stated in a statement. Production has been stopped for now. Our top priority is to ensure the safety of our cast members and crew. “

A representative for Baldwin declined to comment further. The representative of

Hutchins declined to comment. According to the sheriff’s office, she was taken by helicopter to University of New Mexico Hospital. She was declared dead at that time.

Sheriff’s Office said that no charges had been filed against her and that an investigation is ongoing. Sheriff’s deputies were dispatched around 1: 50 p.m. local time (3: 50 p.m. ET) after a 911 call about a shooting on the set, the office said.

Bonanza Creek Ranch often serves as a location for Western productions. An aerial video taken by NBC affiliate, KOB Albuquerque, showed an old church that looked blocked off.

The film centers on a 13-year-old boy who goes on the run with his estranged grandfather after he is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a rancher in the 1880s, according to the movie’s logline. It was unclear how the fatal accident in New Mexico on Thursday occurred.

In 1993, “The Crow” actor Brandon Lee died in a filming accident after he was shot with a prop gun. The son of martial-arts film icon Bruce Lee was 28.

In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a gun loaded with blank and empty cartridges on the set of the “Cover-Up” TV series, UPI reported at the time.