Actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun on a movie set and killed the film's cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, authorities said.

Joel Souza, the director of the film, was wounded, and authorities are investigating the incident.

In his first public comments since the incident, Baldwin said Friday morning that he is heartbroken over the incident and is fully cooperating with authorities as the investigation continues.

"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," Baldwin wrote in a Twitter post Friday morning. 

"I'm fully cooperating 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," Baldwin continued.

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

The incident took place Thursday on the rustic film set in the desert on the southern outskirts of Santa Fe, New Mexico, according to County Sheriff’s officials.

Sheriff’s deputies responded about 2 p.m. to the movie set at the Bonanza Creek Ranch after 911 calls described a person being shot on set, said Rios, the sheriff’s spokesman. The ranch has been used in dozens of films, including the recent Tom Hanks Western “News of the World.”

“This investigation remains open and active,” Rios said in a statement. “No charges have been filed in regard to this incident. Witnesses continue to be interviewed by detectives.”

A spokesperson for Baldwin said there was an accident involving the misfire of a prop gun with blanks. Santa Fe County Sheriff’s spokesman Juan Rios said detectives were investigating what type of projectile was discharged and how. No immediate charges were filed.

The Santa Fe New Mexican reported that Baldwin, 63, was seen Thursday outside the sheriff’s office in tears, but attempts to get comment from him were unsuccessful.

Prop guns fire blanks, gunpowder charges that produce a flash and a bang but not a hard projectile. But when the trigger is pulled, the paper or plastic wadding is ejected from the barrel with enough force that it can be lethal at close range, as proved to be the case in the death of an actor in 1984. In another on-set accident in 1993, the actor son of martial arts star Bruce Lee was killed after a bullet was left in a prop gun.

Hutchins, 42, was airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead by medical personnel, the sheriff’s department said. Souza, 48, was taken by ambulance to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, where he is undergoing treatment.

“The details are unclear at this moment, but we are working to learn more, and we support a full investigation into this tragic event,” International Cinematographers Guild president John Lindley and executive director Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.

Hutchins, a 2015 graduate of the American Film Institute, worked as director of photography on the 2020 action film “Archenemy,” starring Joe Manganiello. She was named a “rising star” by American Cinematographer in 2019.

"My greatest fear is that someone will be fatally hurt on one of my sets," wrote James Gunn, director of "The Suicide Squad" and the "Guardians of the Galaxy" films. "I pray this will never happen. My heart goes out to all of those affected by the tragedy today on Rust, especially Halyna Hutchins & her family."

“I’m so sad about losing Halyna. And so infuriated that this could happen on a set,” said “Archenemy” director Adam Egypt Mortimer on Twitter. “She was a brilliant talent who was absolutely committed to art and to film.”

Manganiello called Hutchins “an incredible talent” and “a great person” on his Instagram account. He said he was lucky to have worked with her.

"I’m in shock," Manganiello wrote. "I was so lucky to have had Halyna Hutchins as my DP on Archenemy. An incredible talent & great person."

"I can’t believe this could happen in this day and age," he continued. "Gunfire from a prop gun could kill a crew member? What a horrible tragedy. My heart goes out to her family."

"Absolutely horrifying and devastating news about cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins," actor Elijah Wood wrote on Twitter. "My heart goes out to her family."

"Only 5% of film cinematographers are women which tells you how talented and driven Halyna Hutchins had to be to make it in her field," legendary television writer and producer Nell Scovell wrote on Twitter. "We need a full account of what happened on that set. No Hollywood cover up."

Baldwin previously worked with Souza as a producer on the 2019 film, “Crown Vic,” which starred Thomas Jane as a veteran Los Angeles police officer on a manhunt for two violent bank robbers. Souza’s first credited film, 2010’s “Hanna’s Gold,” was a treasure hunt adventure featuring Luke Perry.

Production was halted on "Rust," which is about a 13-year-old boy who is left to fend for himself and his younger brother following the death of their parents in 1880s’ Kansas, according to IMDB.

In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of Bruce Lee, died after being hit by a .44-caliber slug while filming a death scene for the movie “The Crow.” The gun was supposed to have fired a blank, but an autopsy turned up a bullet lodged near his spine.

A Twitter account run by Lee’s sister Shannon said: “Our hearts go out to the family of Halyna Hutchins and to Joel Souza and all involved in the incident on ‘Rust.’ No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period.”

In 1984, actor Jon-Erik Hexum died after shooting himself in the head with a prop gun blank while pretending to play Russian roulette with a .44 Magnum on the set of the television series “Cover Up.”