The death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins is a haunting reminder

In February of 2014, the College of Charleston lost one of its own when Sarah Jones (’09) was killed on the set of Midnight Rider, a biopic of Gregg Allman, which was being shot in Savannah, GA. Sarah was among several crew members shooting a sequence on a CSX train track when a train unexpectedly appeared at high speed. The crew was not cleared to shoot on the tracks. Sarah was 27 years old.

Since then, Sarah’s parents, Richard and Elizabeth Jones, have been advocating for safety on films sets. Unfortunately, injuries–both serious and fatal–continue to be an occupational hazard. In 2015, stuntwoman Olivia Jackson was seriously injured when her motorcycle collided with a piece of camera equipment on the set of Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. Two years later, stuntman John Bernecker died after falling off a balcony on the set of The Walking Dead, and stuntwoman Joi Harris died in a motorcycle crash on the set of Deadpool 2.

Today’s news of actor Alec Baldwin’s involvement in the accidental fatal shooting of Halyna Hutchins on the set of Rust is a reminder of the need to ensure strict enforcement of safety protocols on films sets. We will learn more as the investigation continues, but as of today we know that a prop gun unexpectedly discharged a projectile, killing Hutchins and injuring director Joel Souza.

More about the story can be found here.