Actor Alec Baldwin fired a presumed blank pistol on a set in New Mexico on Thursday, killing cinematographer Helena Hutchins and wounding director Joel Sousa, authorities said.
The Santa Fe Police Chief's office said the incident killed "Rust" director Helena Hutchins and injured director Joel Souza at the Bonanza Creek filming location south of the city.
The director of photography was taken by helicopter to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, while an ambulance took the director to Saint Vincent Regional Medical Center for treatment, and it was not yet possible to determine the severity of the injury.
"Susa sent me a text saying he was discharged from hospital," actress Frances Fisher wrote on Twitter.
Arturo Delgado, a spokesman for the medical center to which Souza was taken, was asked whether he had been discharged from the center and replied that he was not allowed to divulge information about patients.
Cinematographer Helena Hutchins, victim of the shooting on set (French)
The police chief's office said no charges had been filed and that police were investigating the incident and listening to witnesses.
The office issued a statement saying, "The investigation is still open and ongoing."
And the website "Deadline" concerned with artistic production quoted a source in the police chief's office as saying that investigators questioned Baldwin and then released him.
The newspaper "Santa Fe New Mexican" reported that Baldwin went to the police chief's office voluntarily and gave his statement to investigators, quoting police spokesman Juan Rios.
The newspaper added that investigators are still trying to determine whether it was an accident.
Rios did not respond to Reuters requests for comment, and Baldwin's representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Earlier on Thursday, People magazine quoted a Baldwin spokesman as saying there had been an "incident" involving "accidental firing from a blank-shot pistol".
The New Mexican newspaper, Santa Fe, wrote that Baldwin was seen "a teary-eyed" while speaking on the phone outside police headquarters on Thursday.
Baldwin, 63, is a co-producer of the 1880s Kansas Western "Rust," who plays "Rust," the outlawed grandfather of a 13-year-old boy convicted of manslaughter.
The director of photography was transferred to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead (French)
Several news websites quoted the film's producing company as saying that "Rust" production had been suspended for an "indefinite period".
The incident brought to mind the memory of the killing of American actor Brandon Lee, the son of Bruce Lee, in 1993 at the age of 28, after he was shot from a pistol supposedly containing blanks while filming the movie "The Crew" or "The Raven".
"Our thoughts are with the family of Halina Hutchins, with Joel Souza and everyone involved in the 'Rust' incident," Lee's sister wrote on her brother's Twitter account. No one should ever die with a gun on a set.