Getting shot on Rust like being hit with baseball bat: Director

Joel Souza described his confusion after being hit by a live round that should never have been on the set of the budget Western in October 2021.

“There was an incredibly loud bang,” he said of the moment that the Colt .45 actor Alec Baldwin was holding discharged.

“It felt like somebody had taken a baseball bat to my shoulder. I remember that distinctly. And sort of stumbling back and shouting.”

Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins was fatally wounded in the shooting, which happened as cast and crew readied for a scene inside an old church on the New Mexico set.

Souza recalled looking up at one point after the gun went off and seeing armorer Hannah Gutierrez, who was responsible for weaponry.

“She looked distraught,” he said. “I remember her saying: ‘I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Joel.’ And I remember somebody screaming at her and they ushered her out.”

The 26-year-old is on trial for involuntary manslaughter over Hutchins’ death. She also faces one charge of tampering with evidence in relation to the alleged disposal of cocaine in the aftermath of the tragedy.

She denies both charges.

Souza, who also wrote “Rust,” said it was not until medics showed him his X-ray that he finally accepted that he had been shot.