One minute, actor Alec Baldwin and a handful of others were rehearsing a scene for the Western film “Rust.” The next, two people were bleeding from gunshot wounds – one of which would prove to be fatal – and everyone was reeling from confusion and shock.
Here’s a moment-by-moment account of what happened on the day of the fatal shooting, based on a search warrant affidavit and 911 calls:
The crew was filming on October 21, 2021, at Bonanza Creek Ranch, a Western movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Mornings typically started with breakfast at 6:30 a.m., but that day they were behind schedule. Even with the delay, things appeared to be going smoothly, director Joel Souza told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies in the affidavit.
Baldwin and crew members began rehearsing a scene in the rustic church, broke for lunch, and then returned to the set.
Assistant director Dave Halls fetched a prop gun from a cart outside the church and yelled “cold gun!,” indicating it was unloaded. He then handed it to Baldwin.
Baldwin was demonstrating a “cross draw” – pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand. The scene required him to point the gun toward the camera.
It was about 1:50 p.m. Souza told deputies he was viewing the scene through the camera and nearby monitors when he heard “what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop.”
Hutchins stumbled backward and slumped to the floor, clutching her stomach and saying she couldn’t feel her legs. Souza, who had been standing beside her, noticed blood on his shoulder.
Suddenly, there was chaos.
Crew members scattered. A medic tried to stop Hutchins’ bleeding while others frantically dialed 911. Sheriff’s deputies arrived shortly after the calls.
Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to a hospital some 55 miles away in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead. Souza, 48, suffered a gunshot wound to his right shoulder.