Ireland Baldwin has sent her 'support' to the loved ones of the female cinematographer her father Alec Baldwin accidentally shot in a tragic gun mishap on set.
Alec, 63, accidentally killed Halyna Hutchins, 42, and wounded director Joel Souza, 48, with a prop gun Thursday on the set of his new film Rust in New Mexico.
His 25-year-old eldest daughter wrote on her Instagram this Friday: 'My love and support go to Halnya Hutchins' family and friends [sic]. Sending healing thoughts to Joel Souza. And wishing I could hug my dad extra tight today.'
Loving daughter: Ireland Baldwin sent her 'support' to the loved ones of the female cinematographer her father Alec Baldwin shot by mistake on Thursday
![Her statement: His 25-year-old eldest daughter wrote on her Insta Stories this Friday: 'My love and support go to Halnya Hutchins' family and friends [sic]'](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/22/21/49521875-10121779-image-m-24_1634934033176.jpg)
Her statement: His 25-year-old eldest daughter wrote on her Insta Stories this Friday: 'My love and support go to Halnya Hutchins' family and friends [sic]'
Ireland is Alec's daughter by his first wife Kim Basinger, with whom he fought an acrimonious custody battle after their split.
Alec's brother Stephen Baldwin posted his own public response to Thursday's tragedy on his Instagram page just hours after it occurred.
'Asking for your prayers tonight friends not much can be said other than please pray for all involved in the wake of this tragic accident thank you,' wrote Stephen, 55, a devout Christian, on his Instagram page Thursday night.
'All involved': Stephen Baldwin requested 'prayers tonight' on Instagram Thursday in the aftermath of his brother Alec's 'tragic accident'; the pair are pictured at the 2008 Tony Awards
In his caption he cited Psalm 91 which reads in part: 'I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.' He has also added the citation in front of his name on his Twitter page.
The Psalm promises that those who place their faith in God 'shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day,' adding: 'A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.'
Alec allegedly repeatedly asked 'why was I handed a hot gun?' after the horrifying incident this Thursday.
Devout Christian: 'Asking for your prayers tonight friends not much can be said other than please pray for all involved in the wake of this tragic accident thank you,' wrote Stephen
Cinematographer Hutchins died shortly after being shot by Baldwin around 1.50pm Thursday at Bonanza Creek Ranch, near the city of Santa Fe in New Mexico. Souza, the film's director, was also hurt and spent several hours in hospital, but was released later the same evening.
Police have disclosed few details about the shooting, saying only that a 'projectile' was fired by a 'prop gun' and they are investigating.
A spokesman for the movie's production company has insisted that only blanks were used, but the sheriff's department is yet to confirm that. It's unclear if this was the first and only shot Baldwin fired, or if others had been fired safely. Immediately after firing the fatal shot, Baldwin asked why he'd been handed a 'hot' gun, according to Hollywood gossip site Showbiz 411.
The tragedy is reminiscent of the 1993 accident on the set of The Crow, when Bruce Lee's son Brandon was shot and killed by a fellow actor.
The film crew in that accident thought the gun was loaded with dummy bullets and blanks, but an autopsy revealed Lee had a .44 caliber bullet lodged in his spine. Investigators in that shooting also probed the theory that a dummy cartridge got stuck in the barrel before the second was fired - a known hazard in shooting which can cause serious injuries or death when the second round is fired.
Man of faith: Stephen Baldwin is pictured attending the premiere of the film The Ticket at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2016
Rhys Muldoon, an Australian actor who has worked extensively in film and TV, also suggested that a blank misfiring close to the camera could have caused Thursday's accident - telling the BBC that material from the blank round could have struck Hutchins before causing part of the camera to hit Souza.
Mike Tristano, 60, a Hollywood armorer with 30 years' experience who spoke to the Dailymail.com, said ultimate responsibility for gun safety on movie set rests with the armorer.
The movie's armorer or weapons master has not been been named. Sante Fe Sheriff's Department says it will continue to interview 'witnesses' on Friday.
Alec Baldwin is pictured sobbing after shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of his upcoming movie Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Thursday
The 68 year-old actor was also snapped doubled-over in a parking lot, with his hands on his knees and his face seemingly crumpled with distress
Halyna Hutchins, 42, (left) was shot dead in the incident on Thursday at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where writer-director Joel Souza, 48, (right) was also injured
Police tape cordons of a small church used as a set for the movie, after a fatal accidental shooting at a Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set near Santa Fe on Thursday
An image taken on the set of Rust shows cast and crew members receiving a safety briefing before filming stunts. The image was uploaded to Instagram a week ago
‘There should have been blanks in the gun, the on-set armorer’s job is to check that before handing the weapon over,’ Tristan said.
‘They then make sure that the actor stands on a mark and never points the gun at the crew or cast... the editing makes it seem like they were pointing at their co-actor.
‘That’s why everyone in the industry is very confused. How this happened is a total mystery at the moment.’
Tristan added that he has worked with Baldwin before, on the set of 1998 film Thick as Thieves, calling him 'very safe' and a 'total professional'.
'I was surprised to hear it was him,' he added.
Director James Cullen Bressack said afterwards he would never use blanks on his film sets again.
'I will never use anything but airsoft and rubber guns on my movies ever again. This should never have happened. Halyna, you were a gem.
'This is so f****d up,' he said.
Actress Frances Fischer, who is part of the Rust crew, also confirmed that blanks were being used for the stunt.
Baldwin was taken for questioning by sheriff's deputies after the fatal shooting, but was not arrested and has not been charged.
The sheriff's department says its investigation is ongoing.
He was pictured outside the sheriff's office doubled over with grief, and weeping while speaking on the phone. He refused to speak with a reporter from the New Mexican who was at the scene.
Wife Hilaria had uploaded a video showing her playing with two of the couple's six children at 4am on Wednesday. The couple live in New York.
Filming of the movie - about a boy who is wrongly accused of murder, and which Baldwin is co-producing - has been indefinitely suspended while cast and crew recover. Counseling services are being offered, producers said.
Hutchins was Ukrainian-born and grew up in the USSR before studying journalism and working on 'British documentary productions in Europe', according to her personal website.
She subsequently moved to Los Angeles where she changed career to become a cinematographer, studying a two-year fine arts Masters at the AFI Conservatory between 2013 and 2015.
Social media posts suggest she gave birth to a son around the same time - who appears to have been born either late 2012 or early 2013.
The boy appears to be her only child with husband Matthew Hutchins, a Los Angeles-based lawyer who worked as an associated with firm Kirkland & Ellis until 2017. It is unclear what his current job is.
Baldwin is a co-producer on the film, in which he plays infamous outlaw Harland Rust, whose 13-year-old grandson is convicted of an accidental murder.
It was not immediately clear whether the prop gun that killed Hutchins was somehow loaded with real bullets, or if the gunpowder used in theatrical blank cartridges may have launched debris of some kind from the barrel. No further information has been offered on how Baldwin managed to strike two people, with the sheriff's office continuing to investigate.
Representatives for Baldwin, Souza, and Rust's executive producer did not immediately respond to inquiries from DailyMail.com late on Thursday.
Earlier on Thursday, Baldwin's spokesperson issued a statement to People on the shooting, saying: 'There was an accident today on the New Mexico set of involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks.'
Meanwhile, a spokesman for Rust Pictures LLC, which is producing the film, said: 'The entire cast and crew has been absolutely devastated by today's tragedy, and we send our deepest condolences to Halyna's family and loved ones.
The ranch on Friday morning was abandoned after filming was halted. The Santa Fe Sheriff's Department continues to interview 'witnesses'
Baldwin and Hutchins (circled) are pictured together on the set of Rust, in an image that she uploaded to Instagram two days ago saying the crew of the film were supporting a strike by the IATSE union
'We have halted production on the film for an undetermined period of time and are fully cooperating with the Santa Fe Police Department's investigation. We will be providing counseling services to everyone connected to the film as we work to process this awful event'
Hutchins' devastated friends were too distraught to talk, but Ariel Vida, a production designer who worked with the director of photography on 2020 film Archenemy confirmed her death to DailyMail.com, tearfully adding: 'I'm sorry, I can't talk about this right now.'
No criminal charges have been filed, but police said that a criminal investigation into the incident is currently active to determine the circumstances of Hutchins' death.
'According to investigators, it appears that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged,' sheriff's spokesman Juan Rios said in a statement. 'Detectives are investigating how and what type of projectile was discharged.'
'The incident remains an active investigation. As more information becomes available, updates will be provided,' he added.
Hutchins' social media shows she was married to Matthew (pictured together), a Los Angeles-based lawyer. It is unclear when the pair married, but they have a son who was born either in late 2012 or early 2013
Alec Baldwin is seen on the set of Rust with fake blood earlier Thursday, hours before he shot and killed the film's cinematographer. He shared this photo on Instagram with the caption 'Back to in person at the office. Blimey…it's exhausting.' Filming was halted following the fatal incident at the Bonanza Creek Ranch movie set in Santa Fe
She later moved first to the U.K. to work on documentary filmmaking before traveling to LA to study for a master's degree in cinematography and switching to movies
Sun streaming from above, cinematographer Halyna Hutchins smiles into the camera as she films herself riding off into the New Mexico desert on horseback.
This was the last Instagram post shared by the married mother-of-one before she was accidentally killed by actor Alec Baldwin when he fired a prop gun while filming a scene for an upcoming Western on a ranch near Santa Fe.
Born in Ukraine and raised on a Soviet military base 'surrounded by reindeer and nuclear submarines', Halyna, 42, had trained as a journalist and spent time in Europe working on British documentaries before making the move to Los Angeles, where she had established her career - and started a family.
Born in Ukraine and raised on a Soviet military base 'surrounded by reindeer and submarines', Halyna had recently wrapped on a project in Ireland and was tipped for a bright future in Hollywood when her life was so tragically cut short. Pictured, in 2018
Her social media profiles also paint a clear image of a free-spirited, much-loved friend, many of whom have been paying tribute. Pictured, a touching post by close friend Stephanie
Remembered by friends as a 'kind' and 'loving soul', Halyna lived in Venice Beach, California, with her husband Matthew, a lawyer, and their son Andros, known affectionately as her 'little man' and thought to be around nine years old.
'Halyna loved him so much and enjoyed watching him grow into the handsome boy he is today,' one friend wrote in a moving Instagram tribute. 'I know she is looking after him and Matt in this horribly scary time.'
Social media photos capture a playfulness and sense of adventure, with Halloween costume parties, road trips with friends and days out exploring all lit up by Halyna's smile.
She was also highly regarded by her peers and had been tipped as a 'rising star' by other cinematographers. 'She was somebody who was absolutely dedicated to art and integrity,' director, colleague and friend Adam Mortimer told GMB this morning. 'I can tell already she was going to be a genius.'
Halya (right) on a visit back to Kiev in December 2018. She was raised on a military base in the country and later attended the National University of Kyiv, studying International Journalism
Remembered by friends as a 'kind' and 'loving soul', Halyna lived in Venice Beach, California , with her husband Matthew, a lawyer, and their son Andros, pictured in an old Facebook photo
Baldwin, 62, was filming a scene for new film Rust when the gun went off around 1.50pm, fatally wounding Hutchins and leaving writer-director Joel Souza, 48, injured. The incident took place at at Bonanza Creek Ranch.
Hutchins was rushed to the University of New Mexico Hospital in an air ambulance but was pronounced dead a short time after.
Souza was taken by ambulance to the Christus St Vincent Regional Medical Center. He has since been released although his exact condition is unclear.
Will Stewart, Daily Mail's Moscow correspondent, told how Halyna had worked for him in the mid-2000s.
‘This is devastating and incomprehensible news about the death of Halyna Hutchins. She worked for my news agency from Kyiv for several years in the mid-2000s after graduating from a local university in International Journalism.
‘Halyna was involved in many stories for British newspapers and magazines, but she showed a special talent for documentaries, perhaps her first taste of film in which she went on to be so successful in America.
‘At this time while she was with us, in 2006, she was Associate Producer on a documentary for Discovery Channel on Ukrainian icon Leonid Stadnyk called World’s Tallest Man, made by British company Wild Pictures.
‘She was instrumental in Mr Stadnyk feeling at ease taking part in the documentary which focused on the problems of being exceptionally tall.
‘The film, made by leading British director Richard Denton, with former BBC Head of Documentaries Paul Hamann as executive producer, would not have happened without her.
‘Mr Stadnyk, a shy man, trusted Halyna after refusing many other film offers, and thanked her afterwards.
‘Pictures ahead of the film shows him towering over Halyna at his home in the village of Podoliantsy.
‘She later went to the US with her husband Matt and accomplished great things through her huge talent and creativity but also her relentless determination to study and learn.
‘She once told my Russian colleagues that she felt she was a perpetual student in America, but her efforts paid off and she achieved the success she thoroughly deserved.
‘It is tragic that she died in such a cruel and inexplicable way while doing the job she so loved.
‘Our thoughts and prayers are with Matt and their son, and Halyna’s family in Ukraine.’
Richard Denton, producer behind Shakespeare Uncovered and many films in the former USSR, said today: “Halyna was the most wonderful, vital, lively and positive person to work with.
'She was friendly and enormously helpful. She handled everything from translating interviews to making Leonid’s horse move in the right direction.
'She was completely unpretentious and incredibly
