On October 21, 2021 at the Bonanza Creek Ranch, assistant director Dave Halls selected one of three guns used as props. The gun was placed on a cart by assistant director Hannah Guiterrez-Reed and handed it to actor Alec Baldwin before announcing it was a “cold gun.” This statement informed the rest of the crew that the gun was unloaded. It was day twelve of a 21-day shoot and the cast was rehearsing a gunfight that took place inside of a church. Camera operator Reid Russell was situated on a camera dolly, looking at a monitor. Helena Hutchins, the cinematographer, and Joel Souza, the director, were both nearby. The scene involved Baldwin’s character removing a gun from its holster and pointing it towards the camera.
While the trio behind the monitor were repositioning the camera to adjust the lighting, Baldwin began explaining to the crew how he planned to draw the firearm. When he removed it from the holster, the prop gun discharged a single time and the projectile flew towards the trio behind the monitor, striking Hutchins in the chest and Souza in the clavicle. The incident was not caught on camera.
Hutchins was flown by helicopter to the University Of New Mexico Hospital, Albuquerque where she was pronounced dead. Souza was driven by ambulance to Santa Fe, where he was treated and released the following morning. Baldwin was questioned and released without charges being filed. According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office, they have begun investigating “what type of projectile was discharged” and how the event occurred. As a result of the incident, production on Rust was suspended indefinitely.