Yahoo News Alec Baldwin’s Rust co-star Jensen Ackles spoke about gun training days before set shooting
Alec Baldwin’s Rust co-star Jensen Ackles spoke about the gun training he received for the film just days before the set was rocked by a fatal shooting.
Baldwin was filming the Western movie in New Mexico when he discharged a prop gun, killing director of photography Halyna Hutchins and wounding director Joel Souza.
The weekend prior, Ackles had described how he’d been taught to handle his firearm on the Rust set at a convention for his hit show Supernatural in Denver.
“I’ve got a 6am call tomorrow to have a big shoot-out. They had me pick my gun … The armorer was like, ‘Do you have gun experience?’ I was like, ‘A little,’” Ackles told fans in a video posted to YouTube.
“She was like, ‘This is how you load it, check it’s safe. Do you want it hip-drawn or cross-drawn? I’ll just put some blanks in there and just fire a couple of rounds towards the hill … Just make sure you pull the hammer all the way back and aim at your target.’”
It wasn’t immediately clear if the armorer Ackles referred to is the same one who is presumed to have given the prop gun to Baldwin prior to Thursday’s shooting.
A witness to the shooting told Showbiz411 Baldwin fired a single shot that passed through Ms Hutchins’ body and went on to hit Mr Souza in the clavicle.
Afterwards, Baldwin repeatedly asked why he was given a “hot gun”, the outlet reported.
“In all my years, I’ve never been handed a hot gun,” he reportedly said, referring to a gun with live ammunition.
Ms Hutchins died en route to hospital in a helicopter, while Mr Souza has been discharged.
Police said that the investigation remains “open and active” and that “no charges have been filed in regard to the incident” so far.
Many people in the film industry reacted to the tragedy by saying it highlights the need for improved safety measures on set. Ms Hutchins announced plans to protest that issue in an Instagram post two days before her death.
In the wake of the shooting several movie propmasters have spoken out about the strict rules pertaining to guns on set and questioned whether proper protocols were followed by the Rust armorer, who has yet to be named publicly.
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