“That was no good. That was no good at all,” cinematographer Halnya Hutchins yelled seconds after being hit by Alec Baldwin on the “Rust” film set. She died hours later.
The last words of the 42-year-old mother who had worked as the director of photography on Baldwin’s forthcoming Western film were revealed in an article by the Los Angeles Times based on conversations with 14 crew members, emails and text messages.
The actor had been checking with the camera crew to make sure they got their angles correct for the cross draw with the FD Pietta .45-caliber Colt revolver, according to a news report.
“So, I’m going to take this out and throw it, saying, ‘Bang!’” he added as he held the holstered handgun, which was intended to be loaded with dummies according to the report.
Instead, the actor was told that the firearm was a “cold gun,” which is a production term for a weapon that does not contain live rounds and is therefore safe to use during rehearsals, according to the LA Times.
As blood poured out of her chest, the fatally wounded Hutchins stumbled backward and fell into the arms of the set’s chief electrician, who held her in his arms. Meanwhile, Joel Souza, who was also hit by the same bullet, fell to the ground.
“What the f— was that? That burns!”Souza yelled.
Baldwin placed the weapon on a pew and exclaimed, “What the fuck just happened?” several times.
“Medic!” The crew rushed to the injured Hutchins, with one of them, a boom operator, gazing into her eyes and stating, “Oh, that was no good,” according to the LA Times.
“No, that was no good. That was no good at all,” she replied.
She was declared dead, after a short time, by the doctor.
On Saturday, Baldwin appeared dejected and weary as he addressed the tragic shooting that shook the film industry on Oct. 21 at Bonanza Creek Ranch.
“There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this,” the 63-year-old actor told a reporter from BackGrid in Vermont. “This is a one-in-a-trillion episode, a one-in-a trillion event.”
Meanwhile, crew members told the Los Angeles Times that cost-cutting took precedence over safety.
“It always felt like the budget was more important than crew members,” Lane Luper, the A-camera first assistant, told the paper. “Everything was about the schedule and the budget.”
According to a text message obtained by The Post, union members had even walked off the set hours before Baldwin shot the gun — citing “bad gun safety” as one of the reasons for the withdrawal.
The Times obtained a recording of the ship’s safety officer speaking to crewmembers just five days before the death, in which he says that three prior discharges of weapons on the set had been accidents.
In one case, the stunt double for Baldwin mistakenly discharged a blank after being informed his weapon was “cold.” A member of the props department “actually shot herself in the foot,” Luper said, stating that it was a blank round.
