Alec Baldwin gun incident: Rust director Joel Souza 'gutted' by death of Halyna Hutchins

ITV News Correspondent Robert Moore has the latest developments on the circumstances surrounding the film set tragedy

A director who was injured when Alec Baldwin fatally shot a crew member with a prop gun on a film set has said he is "gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague", in his first statement since the incident.

Halyna Hutchins, a 42-year-old cinematographer, was hit in the chest and died after the Hollywood actor fired the prop in Thursday's incident on the set of the film Rust in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

The film's director Joel Souza, who was standing behind her, was wounded but has since been discharged from hospital.

Court records released on Friday show an assistant director said “cold gun,” not knowing the prop gun was loaded with live rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe court.

Mr Souza, 48, has expressed his sadness over the loss of his colleague and has thanked well-wishers for their "outpouring of affection".

"I am gutted by the loss of my friend and colleague, Halyna. She was kind, vibrant, incredibly talented, fought for every inch and always pushed me to be better," the director said in a statement to NBC News.

"My thoughts are with her family at this most difficult time. I am humbled and grateful by the outpouring of affection we have received from our film-making community, the people of Santa Fe, and the hundreds of strangers who have reached out… It will surely aid in my recovery," he was reported as saying.

The gun was one of three that the film's armourer, Hannah Gutierrez, had set on a cart outside the wooden structure where a scene was being acted, according to records.

Assistant director Dave Halls grabbed the gun from the cart and brought it inside to Mr Baldwin, unaware that it was loaded with live rounds, a detective wrote in the search warrant application.

It was unclear how many rounds were fired.

Ms Gutierrez removed a shell casing from the gun after the shooting, and she turned the weapon over to police when they arrived, the court records say.

Mr Baldwin tweeted on October 22 that “there are no words to convey my shock and sadness” following the death of the cinematographer.

He has confirmed he is “fully cooperating” with the police investigation into the accident.

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