Alec Baldwin prop gun movie shooting a reminder of past fatal accidents on film sets

The shooting death of the director of photography on the set of the movie "Rust" from a prop gun fired by star Alec Baldwin is the latest grim reminder of the dangers of movie sets.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office said Thursday evening that Halyna Hutchins, 42, was killed and the movie's director, Joel Souza, 48, was shot and injured during a scene being filmed that "involved the use of a prop firearm when it was discharged.”

Hutchins was pronounced dead at the University of New Mexico Hospital after being taken there by helicopter, according to police. Souza was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center and has since been released.

The tragic mishap is the latest reminder of the danger on movie sets from stunts, fires, explosions and more. Here are some other tragic deaths during filming over the years.

Hutchins' death has unfortunate echoes of the tragic death of actor Brandon Lee, the son of martial arts and acting legend Bruce Lee. The younger Lee was a burgeoning star who was shot in the abdomen by dummy rounds while filming "The Crow" in 1993 and died at 28.

Brandon Lee's family posted a tweet early Friday following the fatal incident on the set of "Rust," writing, "No one should ever be killed by a gun on a film set. Period."

Another on-set death involving a mishap with prop guns firing blanks came in 1984 when actor Jon-Erik Hexum, 26, died while filming the CBS television series "Cover Up."

Hexum played around with a .44 Magnum prop gun filled with blanks during delays between scenes. Fragments of the blank went into his skull when he put the gun up to his head and fired. He was rushed into surgery and went into a coma before he was determined brain-dead six days later, according to Entertainment Weekly.

Actor Vic Morrow, 53, and child actors Myca Dinh Le, 7, and Renee Shin-Yi Chen, 6, were killed when an explosion during a chase scene sent a helicopter crashing to the ground.

Their deaths prompted increased safety regulations for stunts and also resulted in a trial in which director John Landis and others involved with the film were ultimately acquitted of involuntary manslaughter charges.

The Tom Cruise classic about U.S. Navy fighter pilots in training endured tragedy when stunt pilot Art Scholl lost control of his plane during a stunt and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.

David Ritchie, 56, died in a freak mishap during filming of the sci-fi movie in Toronto when ice and sand that had been frozen to a wall for a scene in the movie came loose and crushed him while crew members were dismantling the set.

Stuntwoman Joi Harris was killed in downtown Vancouver during a scene in the Ryan Reynolds hit when she lost control of her motorcycle and was thrown through a glass window of a building. It was Harris' first stunt in a movie, according to Deadline.

The majority of on-set deaths over the years have involved stunts. In the last three decades, stuntmen, stuntwomen or other crew members have also been killed or injured during the filming of "Resident Evil: The Final Chapter" in 2015, "The Expendables 2" in 2011, "The Dark Knight" in 2007, "xXx" in 2002 and "Vampire in Brooklyn" in 1995.

There also have been several freak occurrences. Camera assistant Sarah Jones was killed on the set of "Midnight Rider" in 2014 when she was struck by a train in Georgia, according to Variety.

In 1989, producer-writer H.B. Halicki was killed in Buffalo on the set of "Gone in 60 Seconds 2" when a water tower involved in a stunt sequence fell on him after a support cable snapped.

There also is the case of a movie-related death that did not involve the cast or crew. A fire on the set of the Edward Norton movie "Motherless Brooklyn" in 2018 resulted in the death of New York City firefighter Michael Davidson, 37, after he was part of the crew called to the scene.