[imagesource: Facebook / Serge Svetnoy]

You’re looking at the last known photograph of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins before she was killed on the set of Rust.

The photo was shared on Facebook by Serge Svetnoy, the film’s chief electrician or gaffer, who had previously worked with Hutchins on several films.

Slowly but surely, the events of that day are being pieced together, culminating in the tragic incident as Alec Baldwin and a handful of others were rehearsing a scene in a wooden church.

Filming on Thursday, October 21 was taking place at Bonanza Creek Ranch, a Western movie set outside Santa Fe, New Mexico. Baldwin, the producer and lead actor, plays an outlaw on the run with his 13-year-old grandson.

Many of the details have already been discussed at length, but now CNN has put together a timeline, using a search warrant affidavit, 911 calls, and witness accounts:

Mornings typically started with breakfast at 6:30 a.m., but that day they were behind schedule. A six-person camera crew had recently walked off the job, complaining about pay and housing, and a new crew had been brought in.

But even with the delay, things appeared to be going smoothly, director Joel Souza told Santa Fe County Sheriff’s deputies in the affidavit. Baldwin and crew members began rehearsing a scene in the rustic church, broke for lunch, and then returned to the set.

At this point, Baldwin was standing together with Souza, Hutchins, and a few others.

No cameras were rolling, and only a single camera had been set up.

Assistant director Dave Halls then fetched a “prop gun” from the armourer cart outside the church, yelled “cold gun” (indicating that the weapon did not have live rounds), and handed it to Baldwin.

It’s worth pointing out that the widespread use of the words “prop gun” has been labelled inaccurate by Santa Fe County District Attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies.

She says the weapon was “a legit gun… an antique-era appropriate gun”.

Baldwin was demonstrating a “cross draw” — pulling a gun from a holster on the opposite side of his body from his draw hand. The scene required him to point the gun toward the camera.

It was about 1:50 p.m. Souza told deputies he was viewing the scene through the camera and nearby monitors when he heard “what sounded like a whip and then a loud pop.”

Hutchins stumbled backward and slumped to the floor, clutching her stomach and saying she couldn’t feel her legs. Souza, who had been standing beside her, noticed blood on his shoulder.

At this stage, there was panic and chaos, with a medic attending to Hutchins while a woman calling herself the film’s script supervisor dialled 911.

While on the call, the woman could be heard “cursing at an unidentified person about gun safety on the set”.

A second 911 call was placed, from an unidentified man on the set, with the dispatcher saying that an ambulance was en route.

Hutchins was airlifted to hospital but succumbed to her injuries.

Back on set, Baldwin handed the clothes he was wearing to authorities, and the gun was returned to the armourer.

Investigators also found two other prop guns, a Western-style gun belt and some ammunition.

It remains unclear what was in the gun that Baldwin fired. Detectives learned the armourer, Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, had laid three prop guns on the cart before Halls, the assistant director, grabbed one and handed it to Baldwin.

Gutierrez-Reed has come under fire regarding her approach to gun safety, with an incident on a previous set also highlighted.

The New York Times reports that criminal charges have not yet been ruled out:

Detectives from the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office are proceeding carefully with the investigation, [Carmack-Altwies] said, citing the large number of witnesses and the need to methodically collect ballistics and forensics evidence.

Detectives are still interviewing people who were on the set, Ms. Carmack-Altwies said. “It’s probably weeks, if not months, of follow-up investigation that we’re going to need to get to the point of charging.”

Some media outlets have stated that crew members had used guns with live ammunition for target practice hours before the shooting incident, but this has yet to be confirmed.

Carmack-Altwies stated that this case ranks among the most challenging in Santa Fe County in recent memory.

[sources:cnn&nytimes]