Halyna Hutchins' son, 9, 'fell silent' after fatal Alec Baldwin prop gun accident
Alec Baldwin reportedly met with the family of late cinematographer Halyna Hutchins following the fatal shooting incident that happened last week on the set of his upcoming film, ‘Rust’. As per reports, Baldwin sat down for breakfast with Hutchins’ husband Matthew Hutchins and their nine-year-old son Andros on Saturday morning, October 23, at La Posada in Santa Fe, New Mexico. But Andros has reportedly gone silent since his mother’s tragic death.
As per The Sun, Hutchins’ father Anatoly Androsovych said the nine-year-old was unable to utter a word after being told Alec Baldwin had accidentally shot dead his mother with a prop gun. The 66-year-old told the tabloid, “Andros was incredibly close to his mother and fell silent when told she was dead. Matt was really worried because the boy withdrew into himself and couldn’t say a word for two days. His dad has managed to coax a few words from him now but the effect has been devastating. This tragedy has wrecked a beautiful perfect family -- everyone who knows them is destroyed by sorrow.”
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The retired Soviet nuclear submarine captain from Ukraine said, “Matt couldn’t reach me at first to break the news to me because I’d lost my phone but eventually got through to Olga [Androsovych’s wife] and Haylna’s sister Svetlana. He told them about the tragedy and said he loved Halyna so much, he was devastated. He managed to get through to me on Saturday night and sounded very upset, but his biggest concern was for Andros who had stopped talking completely. It’s terrible because we were so proud of them and loved seeing how happy they were, and now it’s all gone.
“We want to do everything we can to support Matt because we are very close to him after getting to know him while he lived in Kyiv while Halyna waited for her papers to fly to the US,” he said. “I’m hoping my wife and daughter will be able to go there to comfort Matt and Andros soon.”
Baldwin was snapped with Matthew and Andros, at his hotel in Santa Fe on Saturday. Baldwin later bid farewell to Matthew and Andros with a hug. "Honestly, he didn't look good," an insider shared with People Magazine, adding that the group was "definitely sad" during their breakfast.
"I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive," Matthew told reporters on Friday. "I don't think there are words to communicate the situation. I am not going to be able to comment about the facts or the process of what we're going through right now, but I appreciate that everyone has been very sympathetic. I think that we will need a little bit of time before we can really encapsulate her life in a way that is easy to communicate."
A source also told People Magazine that Baldwin was "hysterical and absolutely inconsolable for hours," and he's looking "to take some time to himself and re-center himself.” The source added, "This was pretty devastating. This is how he handles difficult times. Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from [the] public eye. Everyone knows this was an accident, but he's absolutely devastated."
The shot that killed Hutchins on the ‘Rust’ film set was fired as actor Alec Baldwin was practicing drawing his gun, according to the director Joel Souza who was injured in the shooting. Souza was shot in the shoulder and Hutchins was killed when the prop gun went off during a rehearsal at the Bonanza Creek Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, October 21.
Souza told investigators that Baldwin was "sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw.” A cross draw is when a shooter pulls the weapon from a holster on the opposite side of the body from the draw hand. Souza was looking over Hutchins' shoulder "when he heard what sounded like a whip and then loud pop. She remembered Hutchins "complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection" after the shot was fired, the document said.
Due to the labor problems, Souza said they had only one camera available to use that day, and it was not recording at the time of the incident. Souza also confirmed to an investigator that he heard the term "cold gun" on set, meaning the firearm should have been empty. Souza said three people had been handling the guns or firearms for scenes they were checked by the armorer and first assistant director and then given to the actor using them. No charges have been filed in the incident.