Alec Baldwin was rehearsing aiming gun at camera when he fired fatal shot: US media

NEW DELHI: Alec Baldwin was rehearsing a scene that involved pointing a prop gun at the camera lens when he fatally shot cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, US media reported, citing an affidavit recording his director's account of the tragedy. Director Joel Souza, who was standing behind Hutchins when the gun fired, said he heard what "sounded like a whip and then loud pop", according to the affidavit released to US media on Sunday. Souza said Baldwin was "sitting in a pew in a church building setting, and he was practicing a cross draw. Joel said he was looking over the shoulder of Halayna when he heard the gun fire," NBC News reported the affidavit as saying. It quotes Souza as saying he remembered Hutchins "complaining about her stomach and grabbing her midsection". "Joel also said Halayna began to stumble backwards and she was assisted to the ground," the affidavit said, according to NBC. "Joel explained that he was bleeding from his shoulder and he could see blood on Halayna." Hutchins, 42, was struck in the chest when Baldwin fired the prop gun he had been told was safe on the set of low-budget western "Rust" in New Mexico on Thursday. She was declared dead in hospital hours later. Police are still investigating the shooting.