Never-Before-Seen Video: Bullet-Stricken 'Rust' Director Joel Souza in ER Asks About Halyna Hutchins in Shooting Aftermath – 'Is She OK?'
Joel Souza, the writer and director of 'Rust,' was desperate to know whether cinematographer Halyna Hutchins had survived after he was struck by the same bullet that ultimately killed her.
July 10 2024, Published 4:30 p.m. ET
Joel Souza, the writer and director of Rust, was desperate to know whether cinematographer Halyna Hutchins had survived her injuries after the bullet that ultimately killed her also struck him in the shoulder during a rehearsal in New Mexico on October 21, 2021.
RadarOnline.com exclusively obtained never-before-seen body camera footage of Souza lying in the emergency room as he told an officer what he remembered about the horrific on-set shooting in its immediate aftermath — before doctors removed the projectile from his body.
Souza was rushed to a hospital in Santa Fe after the projectile struck him in the shoulder on October 21, 2021.
Souza told a Santa Fe deputy that on that infamous day, the crew was rehearsing with the movie's lead, Alec Baldwin, for "a scene in the church where there was going to be a shootout among three characters." Shockingly, the gun in Baldwin's hand fired a live round instead of a blank.
"There was a very loud bang, and it felt like somebody kicked me in the shoulder," the patient said with a shaky voice, "and then I was down on my a--."
He then recalled the harrowing moment he saw "the cinematographer Halyna Hutchins with blood coming out of her back."
Alec Baldwin's involuntary manslaughter trial began this week.
"She was between me and I think where the gun went off and i think it went through her and into me?" the puzzled filmmaker speculated before asking, "Do you know anything about what's going on with her? Is she ok?"
The deputy said he had no knowledge of Hutchins' condition at the time, but it was later revealed that the cinematographer had been shot in the chest and succumbed to her injuries in the hospital that day. She was 42.
Baldwin, 66, whose criminal trial began this week, maintains that he never pulled the trigger of the Colt .45 revolver and has pleaded not guilty to involuntary manslaughter. The film's armorer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, was found guilty of the same charge in her trial over Hutchins' death in March, and she was sentenced to 18 months behind bars.
Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, the movie's armorer, was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in her own trial stemming from Hutchins' death in March.
"I remember the armorer handed the actor a gun," Souza said from his hospital bed, "I don't know if she said it was 'cold,' or 'clean,' but she handed him the gun and then there was a bang, that was a louder bang than I've heard come from a blank before."
During Gutierrez-Reed's trial, Souza took the stand and testified that amid the chaos following the shooting, he saw the armorer “standing there, looking distraught,” per CNN.
“I remember her saying, ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry Joel’ and I remember somebody screaming at her and they just ushered her out,” he told the court of Gutierrez-Reed.
Baldwin has pleaded not guilty and maintains that he never pulled the trigger.
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He also explained the difficulty of accepting the fact that a live round had been fired instead of the blanks that were supposed to be loaded into the gun.
“I knew something had got me, but they kept talking about this bullet and it just could not compute for me. I kept saying, ‘You don’t understand. No, no, no, this was a movie set. That’s not possible. You don’t get it,’ and, ‘It’s just not possible. It’s just not possible there’s a live round.’”
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