Authorities to present findings in fatal movie-set shooting

Law enforcement authorities are scheduled to discuss initial findings about a fatal movie-set shooting with a prop gun discharged by actor Alec Baldwin that left a cinematographer dead and the film director wounded

SANTA FE, N.M. -- Law enforcement authorities are scheduled to discuss initial findings about a fatal movie-set shooting with a prop gun discharged by actor Alec Baldwin that left a cinematographer dead and the director wounded.

Scheduled for Wednesday, the news conference by Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza and District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies promises the first detailed public comments by investigators about the killing of 42-year-old Halyna Hutchins during an on-set rehearsal at a ranch outside Santa Fe.

The sequence of events on Oct. 20 has baffled Hollywood professionals and prompted calls to better regulate movie-set firearms or even ban them in the age of seamless computer-generated imagery.

Court records say that an assistant director, Dave Halls, grabbed the gun from a cart and handed it to Baldwin, indicating the weapon was safe by yelling “cold gun.” But it was loaded with live rounds, according to a written affidavit from a detective.