Experts weigh in on 'Rust' tragedy: How can a prop gun be deadly?

Mt. Lebanon native and actor Joe Manganiello’s reaction probably mirrored that of many inside and outside the entertainment industry when hearing the news that actor Alec Baldwin “discharged” a prop gun Thursday on the set of his Western “Rust” in New Mexico. It killed the film’s director of photography, Halyna Hutchins, and injured “Rust” writer-director Joel Souza, who was released from the hospital by late Thursday night.

“I’m in shock,” Manganiello tweeted. “I was so lucky to have had Halyna Hutchins as my DP on Archenemy. An incredible talent great person. I can’t believe this could happen in this day and age … gunfire from a prop gun could kill a crew member? What a horrible tragedy. My heart goes out to her family.”

I’m in shock. I was so lucky to have had Halyna Hutchins as my DP on Archenemy. An incredible talent & great person. I can’t believe this could happen in this day and age… gunfire from a prop gun could kill a crew member? What a horrible tragedy. My heart goes out to her family pic.twitter.com/W479ch56Js

— JOE MANGANIELLO (@JoeManganiello) October 22, 2021

Baldwin was questioned by investigators and released, per the Santa Fe Sheriff’s Department. No arrests or charges have been filed.

On Friday, Baldwin tweeted, “There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. Im fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.”

1-
There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and

— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021

2- I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family. My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna.

— AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021

There might be no way to know specifically what happened in this incident until an ongoing investigation is completed.

Friday morning, IATSE Local 44, which covers prop masters based in California, sent an email to its members saying the gun used in the “Rust” scene fired “a live single round.” The production’s prop master was not a member of Local 44, per Variety.

However, a spokesman for the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said, “We haven’t even begun the forensics on that issue. That hasn’t been determined by us as of yet.”

It’s worth understanding what a prop gun is and is not.

A prop gun is not necessarily a fake gun.

While the image of a rubber gun used in a stage play might come to mind, that’s not what gets used in film and TV productions where close-ups of a rubber gun would wreck the verisimilitude.

Patrick Storey, a Richmond, Va.-based prop master who most recently worked on the latest “Scream” film, said that while rubber guns are used in stunt scenes in film and TV so stunt performers can fall on the gun safely, “blank fire guns” or replicas most often are used for close-ups.

“It’s a total tragedy that could completely have been avoided,” Storey said. “Blank fire guns require a ton of due diligence. There are systems in place to do this. It’s partially inspecting the rounds and having an armorer who’s an absolute expert in these things.”

It’s unclear if an armorer was working on the set of “Rust.”

“It depends on the producer and budget, but generally speaking, if there’s any more than a couple of rounds being fired, it’s best to have an armorer just so that there’s one person dealing with that and nothing else,” said Martin Lasowitz, the prop master on filmed-in-Pittsburgh “Archive 81” and “Rustin.” He noted there is no gunfire in “Rustin,” which is currently filming in Western Pennsylvania, and the guns carried in holsters by actors playing police officers are fake guns made of cast resin.

Dummy rounds might be used in a revolver to simulate the presence of a bullet, but if the trigger is pulled, a dummy round does not deliver sound or kickback.

To simulate the sound, flash and movement of firing, blanks of varying strength of gun powder are used.

“You never point the barrel at a person,” said Lasowitz, who was the prop master on weapons-heavy “I Am Legend” and “Leon: The Professional.” “You point it in such a way that it looks like you’re aiming at the person, but you never aim directly at the person.”

Blanks can be deadly when fired at close range. Actor Jon-Erik Hexum died in October 1984 by an accidental self-inflicted blank gunshot to the head on the set of the TV show “Cover Up.” He was goofing off between takes and put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, presumably not realizing the danger.

Storey said he’s switched to Airsoft CO2 guns when possible. With CO2 guns, Storey said there’s no possibility of anything but CO2 gas exiting the firearm, although that does require the flash and report to be added as a special effect in post-production.

“It’s just an added measure of safety I can control,” he said.

The “Scream” movie Storey worked on was filmed in Wilmington, Del., on the same soundstage where actor Brandon Lee died in 1993 when a cascading series of mistakes by the crew led to Lee being shot while filming “The Crow.”

“We were firing lots of blank guns inside of the sets, and we were really painfully aware (of following safety protocols),” Storey said. “People on my job were there the day (Lee) was killed.”

Storey said when filming scenes where blanks are fired, there is a whole series of steps he follows. He inspects the gun before it’s loaded, and inspections also are done by the armorer, the assistant director, the key grip and the medic. They shine a flashlight down the barrel of the unloaded gun to look for any blockages.

“I usually get the actor (gun) range time, where they can fire weapons as often as they like, but we don’t want them to be too comfortable,” Storey said.

The armorer has possession of the gun at all times, and the weapon should be handed to the actor only at the moment when the camera is about to roll and after having thoroughly discussed the camera shot.

“You never point an unloaded weapon at anyone, even a rubber gun,” Storey said. “We treat everything as if it’s real and loaded.”