During a shoot for the film "Rust" in New Mexico on Thursday, producer and actor Alec Baldwin fired a replica firearm, killing a woman and injuring another, the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office said.
Halyna Hutchins, 42, the film's director of photography, died and Joel Souza, 48, was hurt when Baldwin, 63, discharged a prop handgun, the sheriff's office disclosed in a statement Thursday evening.
Local officials said Souza was transported to the hospital by ambulance and is currently getting emergency care.
A representative for Baldwin said "an accident occurred today on the Rust set in New Mexico that involved the misfiring of a prop gun loaded with blanks."
For the time being, production has been halted completely. " The well-being of our actors and crew continues to be our number one priority," the representative, who declined to provide additional information, said.
A representative for Hutchins declined to comment. The sheriff's office said she was flown by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
In a statement, the sheriff's office said no charges have been filed and that the investigation is still underway.
Bonanza Creek Ranch is a location that is frequently utilized in Western productions. NBC affiliate KOB in Albuquerque broadcasted aerial video that looked to show a historic chapel that appeared to be closed off.
The film's logline showed that the story revolves around a 13-year-old kid who goes on the run with his estranged grandfather after he is sentenced to death for the accidental killing of a rancher in the 1880s.
The exact cause of the fatal accident that occurred in New Mexico on Thursday was not immediately known.
Brandon Lee, the actor who played "The Crow," died in a production accident in 1993 after being shot with a fake gun. Brandon, 28, was the son of martial arts film legend Bruce Lee.
In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after accidentally shooting himself in the head with a gun filled with blank and empty cartridges on the set of the television series "Cover-Up," a report from the United Press International, said at that time.
