Director injured in Baldwin shooting pays tribute to cinematographer shot dead

Director injured in Baldwin shooting pays tribute to cinematographer shot dead
Director injured in Baldwin shooting pays tribute to cinematographer shot dead

Director Joel Souza, who was hospitalized after Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun loaded with live ammunition killing female cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, has spoken out. 

Souza told Deadline: 'I am gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague, Halyna. She was kind, vibrant, incredibly talented, fought for every inch and always pushed me to be better.'

He continued: 'My thoughts are with her family at this most difficult time.'

'I am humbled and grateful by the outpouring of affection we have received from our filmmaking community, the people of Santa Fe, and the hundreds of strangers who have reached out….. It will surely aid in my recovery.' 

The Rust director was standing behind Hutchins when Baldwin shot the prop gun. Souza was shot in the shoulder and transported to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center in an ambulance. He was treated for his injuries and released from the hospital on Friday. 

Souza was directing the Western film that he wrote based off a story he co-wrote with Baldwin. Before filming stopped due to the tragic incident on Thursday, about half of the movie had been filmed. 

Police are working to determine if footage of the fatal shooting was recorded.  

Hutchins' husband shared a touching tribute to his wife on Twitter on Friday.  Matthew Hutchins tweeted a photo of his wife and their 9-year-old son Andros on Friday captioned: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words. 

'Our loss is enormous, and we ask that the media please respect my family's privacy as we process our grief. We thank everyone for sharing images and stories of her life.' 

His Facebook profile picture is a photo of the couple who had been married for 16 years. His bio now reads: 'We miss you, Halyna.' 

A private memorial was held in Santa Fe last night with Matthew, Andros, and Baldwin in attendance, according to ShowBiz411. It was reported that grief counselors were present at the service. 

The grieving husband told DailyMail.com on Friday morning that he had spoken with the actor. 'I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive,' he said.

Rust director Joel Souza said that he was 'gutted by the loss' of his friend and colleague Halyna Hutchins who was shot and killed Thursday afternoon on set when Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun loaded with live ammunition

Rust director Joel Souza said that he was 'gutted by the loss' of his friend and colleague Halyna Hutchins who was shot and killed Thursday afternoon on set when Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun loaded with live ammunition

Souza was standing behind Hutchins (pictured) when Baldwin fired the fatal shot. He was hit in the shoulder and sent to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center where he underwent treatment for his injury before being sent home Friday

Souza was standing behind Hutchins (pictured) when Baldwin fired the fatal shot. He was hit in the shoulder and sent to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical center where he underwent treatment for his injury before being sent home Friday

Halyna Hutchins' husband Matthew shared a touching tribute to his wife with a picture of her with their 9-year-old son Andros

Halyna Hutchins' husband Matthew shared a touching tribute to his wife with a picture of her with their 9-year-old son Andros

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

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

Baldwin first addressed the tragedy on Twitter Friday: 'There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and'

'I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.'

He then tweeted a Variety article titled Alec Baldwin Was Told Prop Gun Was Safe Before Fatal Shooting, Affidavit Says. 

He was pictured doubled over in grief on Thursday after speaking to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department. 

A public memorial will be held in Albuquerque Saturday from 6 - 7:30 pm. A GoFundMe page has been created by the International Cinematographers Guild Local 600 to raise funds to support her family. 

The American Film Institute has established a memorial scholarship to support aspiring female cinematographers in her honor. 

Remembered by friends as a 'kind' and 'loving soul', Halyna lived in Venice Beach, California, with Matthew and Andros- who she affectionally called her 'little man.'

'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.'

He tweeted: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words'

He tweeted: 'Halyna inspired us all with her passion and vision, and her legacy is too meaningful to encapsulate in words'

Matthew attended a private memorial service for this wife with his son and Alec Baldwin, with whom he has been in contact with following his wife's tragic death

Matthew attended a private memorial service for this wife with his son and Alec Baldwin, with whom he has been in contact with following his wife's tragic death

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.' 

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 professional. Her death was 'senseless and stupid.'

The 24-year-old head armorer in charge of guns on the film had previously admitted she wasn't sure she was ready for the job in an interview before filming started. 

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Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old head armorer in charge of guns on Alec Baldwin film where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on Thursday had admitted she 'wasn't sure she was ready' for the job in an interview before filming started

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the 24-year-old head armorer in charge of guns on Alec Baldwin film where cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was tragically shot and killed on Thursday had admitted she 'wasn't sure she was ready' for the job in an interview before filming started

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (left) also admitted in the podcast interview she found loading blanks into a gun 'the scariest' thing

Gutierrez-Reed was trained by her father, legendary gunsmith Thell Reed

Hannah Gutierrez-Reed (left) also admitted in the podcast interview she found loading blanks into a gun 'the scariest' thing because she did not know how to do it and had sought help from her father, legendary gunsmith Thell Reed, (right) to get over the fear

A search warrant released Friday said first assistant director Dave Halls (left) grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds

Baldwin then aimed towards the camera and pulled the trigger, accidentally killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins as she filmed him

A search warrant released Friday said first assistant director Dave Halls (left) grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds. Baldwin then aimed towards the camera and pulled the trigger, accidentally killing Hutchins (right) as she filmed him

'I almost didn't take the job because I wasn't sure if I was ready, but doing it, it went really smoothly,' Hannah Gutierrez-Reed said in a podcast interview last month after leading the firearms department for The Old Way, starring Nicolas Cage - her first time as head armorer.  

She also admitted in the podcast interview she found loading blanks into a gun 'the scariest' thing because she did not know how to do it and had sought help from her father, legendary gunsmith Thell Reed, to get over the fear.  

It comes as the film crew revealed they walked off set hours before the fatal accident over safety fears after firearms were accidentally discharged three times - including once by Baldwin's stunt double who had been told the gun was not loaded, and twice in a closed cabin. 

A search warrant released Friday said that Gutierrez-Reed laid out three prop guns on a cart outside the filming location, and first assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds. 

'Cold gun!' shouted Halls before handing the gun to Baldwin, using the phrase to signal to cast and crew that the gun was safe to fire for the scene, the warrant said. 

Seconds later, filming a scene inside an Old West-style church, Baldwin apparently aimed towards the camera and pulled the trigger, accidentally killing Hutchins as she filmed him, and injuring director Joel Souza, who stood behind her.  

An inconsolable Alec Baldwin is shown outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office after accidentally shooting and killing the cinematographer on Thursday

An inconsolable Alec Baldwin is shown outside the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Office after accidentally shooting and killing the cinematographer on Thursday

An aerial view of the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed. Workers had been protesting over the fact production wouldn't pay for them to stay in hotels and motels in Santa Fe, instead forcing them to drive an hour to Albuquerque

An aerial view of the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, where the movie was being filmed. Workers had been protesting over the fact production wouldn't pay for them to stay in hotels and motels in Santa Fe, instead forcing them to drive an hour to Albuquerque   

Why WAS a gun on Alec Baldwin movie set loaded with live ammo? Mystery over events that led to actor killing cinematographer 

The deadly chain of events on set that led to Alec Baldwin being handed a gun with live ammunition and accidentally shooting and killing cinematographer Halyna Hutchins have become clearer after it emerged last night the actor fired a live round, believing it to be a blank. 

Experts yesterday told DailyMail.com safety on set is usually extremely tight with live bullets never used in filming and it remains unclear why a firearm loaded with live ammunition was on the Rust set at all. 

Baldwin was handed a gun loaded with live ammunition 

First assistant director Dave Halls picked up one of the firearms - a vintage-style Colt revolver laid out by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed - unaware it was loaded with live bullets.

'Cold gun!' shouted Halls before handing the gun to Baldwin, using the phrase to signal to cast and crew that the gun was safe to fire for the scene, a search warrant released on Friday said.

Baldwin, filming a scene inside an Old West-style church, then fired a live round towards the camera, accidentally killing Hutchins as she filmed him.  

Hutchins was airlifted to the hospital but was pronounced dead. Souza was taken to the hospital by ambulance but was released on Thursday evening. 

Why was live ammunition used on set in the first place? 

Live ammunition is never usually used on film sets and Baldwin's shooting and killing of a cinematographer a 'total mystery', a Hollywood armorer has said.

Mike Tristan, 60, who has provided guns for movie sets for over 30 years, said the injuries sustained by Hutchins should not have been possible. 

Tristan, who has worked with Baldwin before, said any professional armorer would have checked the weapon, which he believes was a Western, before handing it to the 63-year-old.

'There should have been blanks in the gun, the on-set armorer's job is to check that before handing the weapon over,' Tristan told Dailymail.com.

'They then make sure that the actor stands on a mark and never points the gun at the crew or cast, you give them an aim to point at and 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.'

Union members had walked off set hours earlier over safety concerns 

Unionized members walked off set on Wednesday, hours before the tragedy, complaining of safety concerns. 

They complained about long hours, shoddy conditions and another safety incident days earlier involving 'two misfires' of a prop weapon. 

Deadline cites an unnamed source who said a gun had gone off 'in a cabin' while someone was holding it, days prior to the shooting that killed Hutchins.

'A gun had two misfires in a closed cabin. They just fired loud pops – a person was just holding it in their hands and it went off,' they said, apparently referring to unintentional discharges.

Baldwin's stunt double also accidentally fired two rounds after being told the firearm was 'cold'.

When they turned up to set to clear their things on Thursday, they found they'd been replaced by locals.

It begs the question of who those local workers were, what their training was and to what extent did they check the weapon before it was handed to Baldwin.

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Neither Halls nor Gutierrez-Reed immediately returned messages from DailyMail.com late on Friday. Neither has been charged or named as a criminal suspect in the case, though a police investigation is ongoing.  

The movie, set in 1880's Kansas, stars Baldwin as the infamous outlaw Harland Rust, whose grandson is sentenced to hang for an accidental murder.   

In the interview with the Voices of the West last month, Gutierrez-Reed revealed her father only started teaching her about guns at age 16 and that most of her training had happened in the last couple of years. 

She described filming The Old Way earlier in the year as the start of a 'long' career. 

According to her LinkedIn page, she most recently worked as a videographer at Synth Fire, a California-based news and media company, and as a documentary filmmaker for the City of Flagstaff in Arizona. 

She worked as an armorer for Yellowstone film ranch between March and June 2021, but according to the page stopped working there three months before filming for Rust started in October.

Gutierrez-Reed had only recently left Northern Arizona university, where she studied creative media and film between 2017 and 2020.  

Meanwhile Halls is a veteran assistant director with scores of credits on productions involving prop guns, including Fargo, The Matrix Reloaded, and the TV cop comedy Reno 911. 

In 2000, Halls was the second unit's first assistant director on The Crow: Salvation, the sequel to the film in which Bruce Lee's son Brandon Lee was killed in an on-set firearms mishap in 1993.   

The warrant said that a single bullet struck Hutchins in the chest, and then struck director Joel Souza in the shoulder as he was standing behind her, injuring him, suggesting the bullet traveled all the way through Hutchins' body. 

The gun that fired the fatal shot was a vintage-style Colt revolver, DailyMail.com has exclusively learned. 

After the shooting, the armorer took possession of the gun and a spent casing, which were turned over to police, along with other prop guns and ammunition used on the set. 

Baldwin also changed out of the Western costume he was wearing, which was stained with blood, and turned it over to police.

The warrant does not reveal the model or caliber of the prop gun that fired the fatal bullet, but the film is set in the Old West of the 1880s and DailyMail.com has learned it was a Colt.

The warrant was obtained Friday so that investigators could document the scene at the ranch where the shooting took place. 

Unionized workers had walked off the set hours before the fatal shooting, after they complained about long hours, shoddy conditions and another safety incident days earlier involving 'two misfires' of a prop weapon. 

A yet-unnamed prop master who oversaw the gun used in the fatal shooting was a non-union worker who was 'just brought in' to replace

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