Alec Baldwin shooting latest news: Hilaria posts message of support as Halyna Hutchins family speak out – The Independent

Alec Baldwin is reportedly cancelling all of his projects following the incident on the set of Rust.

A source told People that the 63-year-old actor is going “to take some time to himself and re-centre himself”.

“This is how he handles difficult times. Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from the public eye,” the source said.

Peony Hirwani has the full story:

The chief electrician on the set of Rust has opened up about the death of Halyna Hutchins in a Facebook post.

“Yes, I knew Halyna, not for a year. I worked with Her on almost all of her films,” Serge Svetnoy wrote.

“Sometimes we’ve shared food and water. We’ve been burning under the sun, freezing in the snow on the shoots. We took care of each other. Yes, I can say with 100% confidence she was my friend.”

Alec Baldwin’s wife Hilaria Baldwin has shared a message of support for Halyna Hutchins’s family on Instagram.

“My heart is with Halyna,” she wrote. “Her husband. Her son. Their family and loved ones. And my Alec. It’s said, ‘There are no words’ because it’s impossible to express the shock and heartache of such a tragic accident. Heartbreak. Loss. Support.”

She shared the post on Monday morning on her Instagram account:

A film safety expert joined Morning Joe to provide insight into guns and how they are used on film sets, as well as safety rules in the industry.

He highlighted four main rules: “All guns are always loaded. Never point a gun at anything you don’t want to destroy. Keep your finger off the trigger until your sights are on the target. And always be sure of your target and what’s beyond it.”

The expert also reflected on the usage of the phrase “prop gun”. You can watch the full clip below:

Donald Trump Jr is selling T-shirts on his personal website with the words: “Guns don’t kill people, Alec Baldwin kills people”.

Mr Trump has repeatedly mocked Mr Baldwin in a series of inflammatory Instagram posts about Thursday’s accidental shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust in New Mexico.

According to multiple witness accounts, Mr Baldwin was heard being given a “cold gun” shortly before firing the prop gun towards a camera, killing Ms Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Crew members and Ms Hutchins’ family have blamed the shooting on “negligence” by those responsible for ensuring gun safety on the set, and said Mr Baldwin was not to blame.

The Independent’s Arpan Rai has the full story here.

Halyna Hutchins’ father Anatoly Androsovych has blamed the death of his daughter on the “people who hold the guns”.

Speaking to The Sun from his home in the Ukraine, Mr Androsovych said the family were still processing the shock of Ms Hutchins’ death.

“I don’t hold Alec Baldwin responsible — it is the responsibility of the props people who handle the guns,” he said.

Mr Baldwin had been practising upholstering a prop gun and firing it at a camera when it went off, killing Ms Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.

Authorities are investigating the accidental shooting of Ms Hutchins on the set of Rust in New Mexico on Thursday.

Mr Androsovych said his daughter’s husband Matt, a Los Angeles-based lawyer, would decide whether they would pursue legal action.

The chief electrician on the set of Rust has told how he held Halyna Hutchins in his arms as she bled to death.

Serge Svetnoy said the accidental shooting on the film set in New Mexico on Thursday was the “fault of negligence and unprofessionalism” by those responsible for ensuring gun safety.

In an emotional post on Facebook, Mr Svetnoy said he had worked closely with Ms Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer, on several movies.

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

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

He said the producers of Rust had hired an “inexperienced armourer”.

“To save a dime sometimes, you hire people who are not fully qualified for the complicated and dangerous job, and you risk the lives of the other people who are close and your lives as well,” he wrote.

Mr Svetnoy, who worked on several film productions with Ms Hutchins, said he was devastated for her husband Matt Hutchins and for Mr Baldwin.

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

Alec Baldwin had been practising pointing his weapon at a camera on the set of Rust when the prop gun accidentally went off, killing Halyna Hutchins, according to new witness statements made public on Sunday night.

A witness account from director Joel Souza released by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department on Sunday provided fresh details into the shooting, which occurred in an onset church while Mr Baldwin was practicing a “cross-draw”.

Mr Baldwin was attempting to reach across his body to draw the handgun when he aimed it at the camera, as Ms Hutchins, 42, and Mr Souza stood behind.

Mr Souza told the sheriff’s office in an interview that he heard a loud pop and then noticed that both he and Ms Hutchins were bleeding.

Ms Hutchins fell backward and complained of feeling pain before being helped to the ground, the director said.

Mr Souza, 48, said he recalled hearing the words “cold gun” prior to the accidental shooting, which means the gun had been safety checked.

The camera was not been filming when the accidental shooting occurred, authorities said.

Filmmakers Christopher Gist and Sarah Mayberry say the safety procedures involved in using firearms on weapons on set are exacting.

Writing for The Independent, the pair who recently shot psychological crime thriller Darklands said it was important to operate with an “abundance of caution”.

“A gun with no ammunition – that is, a gun with neither a bullet nor blanks – is not dangerous.

“But even so, on set there is always an armorer, a safety officer, and a stunt coordinator: at least three people who always have an eye on the guns on set.”

Read their full piece here.

A cameraman working on Rust said Alec Baldwin was careful with prop guns on set, after a shooting accident led to cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’s death.

According to court documents filed by the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department on Sunday, and seen by The New York Times, camera operator Reid Russell confirmed the actor was “very careful” of his surroundings when rehearsing or shooting with firearms.

Russell also shared an instance when Baldwin ensured no child actors were present when he discharged a gun.

Maanya Sachdeva has more details below: