It was probably a revolver considering they were making a western, so no magazine would be involved.

At a close range even a blank can be lethal. I believe there have been several deaths over the years where someone faked a shot to the head with a blank, only to be killed by the pressure of the explosion of the blank.

There are actually firearms experts in Hollywood that do know what they are doing. Obviously mistakes were made in this case if a live round was in the pistol. 

An unverified report I read this morning said, that this particular pistol had been used by the crew for after hours shooting. Same report said police found live ammo and blanks stored either together or a least near each other.

As far as Baldwin's culpability in my opinion it comes down to one thing. If the shot was taken during actual filming, I think unless he loaded the pistol himself Baldwin is off the hook personally. If he was screwing around and pointed and fired the gun at someone, then I would press for manslaughter probably. He is the executive producer of this movie I believe which will put the civil liability squarely on his shoulders. 

 

12 hours ago, Jumper_Dad said:

At a close range even a blank can be lethal. I believe there have been several deaths over the years where someone faked a shot to the head with a blank, only to be killed by the pressure of the explosion of the blank.

 

 

At least River Phoenix had the decency to aim the gun at his own head.

Random headline from today:

Attorney Andrew Stoltmann believes actor Alec Baldwin "needs to start thinking like a potential defendant instead of just somebody who made a tragic mistake."

Another headline:

Alec Baldwin was practicing drawing his weapon and firing it at the camera, according to an affidavit released Sunday night.

30 minutes ago, theguru said:

Random headline from today:

Attorney Andrew Stoltmann believes actor Alec Baldwin "needs to start thinking like a potential defendant instead of just somebody who made a tragic mistake."

Interesting. I've definitely seen some interesting details come out, but I honestly thought most of them made Baldwin look less like a criminal to me. Although the old adage goes that the person holding the firearm is responsible for said firearm. 

I know that this is an extreme and being on a movie set may make it different, but if someone hands me a gun and tells me it's "cold" and I point it at you and fire, I'm still at fault. 

To me the whole live ammo thing blows up any claims this movie set and the gun were safe.

On another note, this story has taught me that the name of the "gun guru" on set that we were discussing earlier is an armorer. Apparently the one on set during this accident was a rookie. 

23 minutes ago, theguru said:

To me the whole live ammo thing blows up any claims this movie set and the gun were safe.

Absolutely. Live ammo shouldn't be anywhere near a set where a gun is a "prop". With the editing technology we have now, why is there even a functioning gun being used? You mean to tell me we can't 3d print a non working gun that looks realistic, and then edit in all the affects. Although even in that case, whoever holds the "fake" gun should still verify it's not a loaded weapon.

11 hours ago, Bluto said:

At least River Phoenix had the decency to aim the gun at his own head.

Didn't River Phoenix OD on a combination of morphine and coke?

1 hour ago, ChickenWyngz said:

Interesting. I've definitely seen some interesting details come out, but I honestly thought most of them made Baldwin look less like a criminal to me. Although the old adage goes that the person holding the firearm is responsible for said firearm. 

I know that this is an extreme and being on a movie set may make it different, but if someone hands me a gun and tells me it's "cold" and I point it at you and fire, I'm still at fault. 

I think this is going to turn into the crux of the matter for Alex Baldwin.

To clarify, the assistant director, David Halls, had yelled "cold gun" on the set - which is regular television/movie production practice - before he handed Baldwin the gun for Baldwin to practice cross-drawing and firing it towards the camera, as he would be doing in an upcoming scene.

Some additional pertinent details around the story, though, are that assistant director David Halls (who essentially is the employee of, and possibly even hired by executive producer Alec Baldwin) had a formal complaint against him by a union prop maker & pyrotechnician on a Hulu series Halls was asst. directing in 2019 for neglecting to hold safety meetings and for consistently failing to announce the presence of a firearm on set to the crew. He also apparently had complaints against him involving refusal to follow fire code requirements on a separate production he was involved with.

Also, this is only the second movie in which Hannah Guitierrez has been the head armorer on set. She apparently was interviewed on a podcast a couple of months ago and stated that she had almost considered turning down the head armorer job for her first movie, filmed in earlier in 2021, because "she wasn't sure if she was ready." As @ChickenWyngz said previously in the thread, this was the third instance of an accidental prop gun discharge on the set of this movie in only a matter of a week. On Oct 16th, Alec Baldwin's stunt double accidently fired two rounds also also being informed that the gun he'd been handed was "cold."

On 10/24/2021 at 5:49 AM, ChickenWyngz said:

Just read up on this some more, but can’t figure out how to link the story while on my phone.

Apparently, not only had the union workers left the set for safety reasons forcing them to rely on scab workers, but the union workers had left because the same firearm had fired up to 2 live rounds (hitting no one) on set the day before. 
 

If the above is true, I’d imagine there is a criminal charge somewhere. I’m still not sure that is to Baldwin, but someone.

The LA Times is saying that the workers who walked off set were an assistant cinematographer and 7 camera crew workers. They were union workers, but it was not an official union walk-off. I believe everyone still working on set was union, so there weren't any scabs.

3rd time in a week, that sounds about as criminal as it can get.

Someone is going to have to pay with time behind bars. 

9 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Didn't River Phoenix OD on a combination of morphine and coke?

Yeah. River Phoenix OD'd outside the Viper Room in Hollywood.

9 hours ago, Colonels_Wear_Blue said:

Didn't River Phoenix OD on a combination of morphine and coke?

Yeah. I was thinking of Jon Hexum.

14 hours ago, theguru said:

3rd time in a week, that sounds about as criminal as it can get.

Someone is going to have to pay with time behind bars. 

As someone else has said, with the advances in cinematic technology, I struggle to think of a reason for there ever to be a live round on set to even be confused with blanks. 

Then you hear about 2 live rounds already being fired and you have to wonder what the hell are they thinking?