'A whip, and then a loud pop': A timeline of events leading to Alec Baldwin fatally shooting Rust cinematographer

Thursday, 21 October was already off to a bad start on the set of Rust when a walk-off by the camera crew left the producers scrambling for replacements during a pivotal scene.

But the day quickly turned into a nightmare: by sundown, the cinematographer of the film was dead, the director injured, and star actor Alec Baldwin distraught over having accidentally shot them both.

A picture of the day Halyna Hutchins died is starting to emerge through affidavits supplied by the Santa Fe sheriff's department.

 Not the best start to the day

• The workday began at 6:30 AM at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, a several-thousand-acre property in the foothills of northern New Mexico, and a favourite destination for producers of Western movies.
• Things quickly began to unravel when a six-person camera crew, angry over disputes about payment and accommodation during the three-week shoot, put down their gear and walked off set, leaving production bosses the task of sourcing replacement staff.
• Director Joel Souza told investigators that even after a new crew had been found, they only had one camera to work with, so scenes were taking longer than they should.

Prop gun as the weapon of no choice

• In the late morning, Souza was preparing a scene in which Baldwin, sitting on a wooden church pew, draws a gun across his body and aims it at the camera, the affidavits say.
• Souza worked with Hutchins to frame the shot to make it look like Baldwin was pointing the gun at the viewer.
• Baldwin's gun in the scene was one of three that had been placed on the props cart by armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, a 24-year-old who only had one previous movie to her name.
• It was taken from the cart by assistant director Dave Halls.
• Souza recalled the phrase "cold gun" being shouted as the weapon was introduced on set. The expression is industry lingo for an inert firearm.

'A whip, and then a loud pop'

• At 12:30 PM, the crew broke for lunch in an area away from the set.
• When they returned, Souza said, he was not sure if the weapon had been checked again.
• Cameraman Reid Russell came back to the set to find Baldwin, Souza, and Hutchins setting up the scene, trying to get around the problem of a shadow being caused by the outside light.
• Baldwin sat on the pew, as Hutchins checked how the scene would look from the viewer's perspective. Souza hovered over her shoulder.
• As Baldwin explained how he would draw the weapon and where his arm would be, the gun went off, Russell said.
• Souza described a sound "like a whip, then a loud pop."

When the dust settled

• Hutchins stumbled backwards, clutching her midsection and complaining about her stomach.
• Russell remembers her saying she could not feel her legs.
• He saw she was bleeding as she lay on the ground, as medics rushed to help her.
• Souza recalls realising that he was bleeding from his shoulder.
• A 911 call to police immediately afterward conveyed the shock and anger felt on the set.
• "We've had two people accidentally shot by a prop gun. We need help immediately," the caller tells a police dispatcher.
• Emergency responders rushed to the ranch, where they airlifted Hutchins to hospital.
• She was declared dead a short time later.

With inputs from Agency France Presse.

(Also read — 'Do we even need guns on sets anymore': Hollywood asks in light of Alec Baldwin accidentally killing cinematographer)

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