Alec Baldwin is cooperating with police in the prop gun shooting death on 'Rust' set

Expressing "shock and sadness," actor Alec Baldwin says he is cooperating with the police investigation into the shooting on a movie set that killed the film's cinematographer and injured its director.

Baldwin, who is also a producer of Rust, fired the prop gun during filming on Thursday afternoon, police said.

Halyna Hutchins, the film's director of photography, was airlifted Thursday afternoon to University of New Mexico Hospital, where she was pronounced dead, according to authorities.

"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halyna Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours. I'm fully cooperating with the police investigation to address how this tragedy occurred and I am in touch with her husband, offering my support to him and his family," Baldwin wrote on Twitter Friday. "My heart is broken for her husband, their son, and all who knew and loved Halyna."

Director Joel Souza, who was injured in the shooting, has been released from the hospital, according to Matt DelPiano, the head of the Western film's production company, Cavalry Media, who described Souza's condition as "fine."

The circumstances of Thursday's shooting are currently under investigation by the sheriff's office. [Copyright 2021 NPR]