Film director who was shot by Alec Baldwin says it felt like being hit by a baseball bat

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A movie director who was shot by Alec Baldwin during a rehearsal has testified at trial that he was approaching the cinematographer when he heard a loud bang. Joel Souza said Friday that the gunshot felt like he’d been hit with a baseball bat. Movie armorer Hannah Gutierrez-Reed is fighting charges at trial of involuntary manslaughter and evidence tampering. Baldwin’s handling of guns on set also is under scrutiny as he awaits a July trial date. Souza was wounded by the same bullet that killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins in October 2021 on the set of the upcoming Western movie “Rust.”