Alec Baldwin fires prop gun on movie set; kills woman, injures another

American actor Alec Baldwin fired a prop gun that killed a cinematographer and wounded the director on a film set in New Mexico, US law enforcement officers said on Thursday.

The incident happened on the set of "Rust" in the southwestern US state, where Baldwin is reportedly playing the lead in a 19th-century western.

The movie 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. The teen goes on the run with his long-estranged grandfather (played by Baldwin) after the boy is sentenced to hang for the accidental killing of a local rancher. Baldwin co-produces, and stars as Harland Rust.

No charges have been filed over the incident, which is being investigated.

According to reports it appeared that the scene being filmed involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged. The investigation is on-going on how and what type of projectile was discharged.

The dead woman, who was 42 years old, had been airlifted to the University of New Mexico Hospital. The second person, a 42-year-old man, was taken by ambulance to a different hospital where he was said to be receiving emergency care. 

Film sets usually have stringent rules over the use of prop weapons, but accidents have happened before too. In 1993, Brandon Lee, 28, son of the late martial-arts star 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.

Baldwin has been on television and in films since the 1980s.

He has also done a number of high-profile movie roles, including in "The Hunt for Red October" and two iterations of the "Mission: Impossible" franchise, Baldwin has voiced animated characters in hits like "The Boss Baby".

He garnered new fans with his long-running portrayal of Donald Trump on "Saturday Night Live", a character that irritated the former president, but won Baldwin a Primetime Emmy.

"Rust" also stars Jensen Ackles ("Supernatural") and Travis Fimmel, best known for playing Ragnar Lothbrok in "Vikings".