Chilling new details about Alec Baldwin’s fatal movie mishap emerged Monday — from the on-set medic who futilely tried to help save cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ life.
“Are we rehearsing?” medic Cherlyn Schaefer asked after hearing an unexpected “loud shot” on the set of the Western film “Rust” on Thursday, according to an injury report she filed and which was reviewed by the Wall Street Journal.
“Because ‘fire in the hole’ was not called,” Schaefer said.
Schaefer then heard someone say “medic emergency,” and she dashed to the part of the set where filming was supposed to start up again after lunch, the Journal said.
There, she found Hutchins, 42, with a gunshot wound to the torso.
Schaefer ordered crew members to apply pressure to the cinematographer’s injury and call 911, then checked for the victim’s vital signs and began to give her oxygen through a mask while waiting for EMTs to arrive at the scene, the report said.
Hutchins was taken to UNM Hospital in Albuquerque, where she was pronounced dead.
Schaefer wrote, “something was shot from a pop gun” on the section of the medic’s report that asked for a “detailed cause” of the incident.
The tragic shooting came after Baldwin was inadvertently given a real loaded gun by Assistant Director David Halls, according to a search warrant obtained by the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. The weapon was supposed to have blanks in it.
Halls, rookie movie-set armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed and Baldwin were all known to have handled the weapon before the fatal shooting, according to the warrant.
According to the warrants, Baldwin was rehearsing a scene where he was due to pull the gun while sitting in a church pew and point the weapon at the camera.
Halls gave the weapon to the actor and yelled “cold gun,” meaning it was safe to use in the scene.
Cameraman Reid Russell told police he did not know if the gun had been checked before it was given to Baldwin.
Authorities said Hutchins was killed by the same shot that wounded “Rust” director Joel Souza.
According to an earlier report, guns on the set had been accidentally fired at least twice before the fatal incident, although no one was injured in those cases.
Asked about earlier misfires on the set, Rust Movie Productions said it was investigating.
“Though we were not made aware of any official complaints concerning weapon or prop safety on set, we will be conducting an internal review of our procedures while production is shut down,” the company said in a statement.
In an e-mail to crew members, the company said production of the film was being halted but called it “a pause rather than an end.”
Last week’s fatal shooting came after several crew members reportedly walked off the set over gripes about housing and working conditions.
Actor Ray Liotta told The Associated Press that he was shocked by the on-set shooting, noting that gun checks are typically very extensive during filming.
“They always — that I know of — they check it so you can see,” said the “Goodfellas” star. “They give it to the person you’re pointing the gun at. They do it to the producer. They show whoever is there that it doesn’t work.”
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