Alec Baldwin 'inconsolable for hours' after fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins

Alec Baldwin was reportedly "inconsolable for hours" after fatally striking cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza on Thursday on the set of the film Rust. The star was reportedly not aware the gun he was shooting in the film had a live round in it.

The 63-year-old is believed to have cancelled all future projects and is going "to take some time to himself and re-centre himself", a source tells PEOPLE.

"This was pretty devastating," the source says. "This is how he handles difficult times. Whenever something bad happens, in the short term, he removes himself from [the] public eye."

The insider also added that Baldwin was "hysterical and absolutely inconsolable for hours" after the accidental shooting.

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"Everyone knows this was an accident, but he's absolutely devastated," they said.

"[Baldwin] is someone who really deeply cares, so he can be very hard on himself," the source shared. "That's true in general, in situations nowhere near as serious as this. But in this situation, it's a whole other level because of the loss of life involved."

"It's going to take him time to figure all this out," they added. "He needs to take a while to himself, to be with his family."

In the warrant from the ongoing police investigation, it's alleged assistant director Dave Halls handed Baldwin the gun, telling him it was "cold" before he fired it.

According to the Associated Press, the assistant director was also unaware that the gun was loaded when he gave it to the actor.

The gun was allegedly one of three laid on a cart by the film's armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed.

It's unknown at this stage how many rounds were fired.

Shock claims about armourer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed

It comes after shock claims about armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, have been released, alleging she had previously handed a gun to a child while working on another movie.

A source told The Daily Beast, Gutierrez-Reed's last film was briefly stopped after she allegedly handed an 11-year-old child a gun.

A Rust production source described the armourer as being "inexperienced and green".

Gutierrez-Reed previously told podcast Voices of the West that she almost didn't take the job on The Old Way, because she wasn't sure she was "ready" for it.

"It was a really bada**e way to start off a really long and cool career, I’m hoping," she said. "I just finished up working on The Old Way with Nicolas Cage, his very first Western.

"It was also my first time being head armourer as well. You know, I was really nervous about it at first, and I almost didn’t take the job because I wasn’t sure if I was ready, but, doing it, like, it went really smoothly."

She also spoke of her father, who trained her, saying, "He took me from being completely green and taught me everything I know so far and by all means, I am still learning.

"Dad has taught me everything but a lot of things I just kind of caught on by myself through observation, watching him do things or just knowing how the firearms work.

"I think loading blanks was the scariest thing to me because I was like 'oh I don’t know anything about it'."

Alec Baldwin breaks silence over cinematographer's death

Over the weekend, Baldwin broke his silence on Halyna Hutchins' death with a statement that read: "There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours.

"I‘m fully co-operating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family.

"My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."

Hutchins' husband Matthew, with whom she shares nine-year-old son Andros, told the Daily Mail, "I have spoken with Alec Baldwin and he is being very supportive."

Baldwin was seen sobbing outside of a local police station in Santa Fe, New Mexico according to local media.

The accident occurred on Thursday at around 1:50pm, with the sheriff's department learning that Hutchins and Souza were "shot when a prop firearm was discharged" by Baldwin during a camera test, according to PEOPLE.

Hutchins was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital where she sadly died of her injuries. Souza was hospitalised but has since been released.

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