'Rust' gaffer shares 'last photo' of Halyna Hutchins on set with Alec Baldwin

The last photo of Halyna Hutchins, the director of photography who was fatally shot on the set of the Alec Baldwin film Rust, has surfaced.

Serge Svetnoy, a gaffer on the film who was "standing shoulder-to-shoulder" with Hutchins when the gun Baldwin was rehearsing with discharged, shared what he called "the last photo with Halyna on set."

In the photo, taken in the church set at the Bonanza Creek Filming Ranch in Santa Fe, Hutchins is near the center with her back to the camera. She's wearing a black puffy coat, green pants, knee-high boots and a hat with headphones placed over them. In front of her is a beaded Baldwin, who plays an outlaw in the film, which has halted production amid an investigation into the shooting.

On Sunday, Svetnoy shared his version of the shocking set shooting, which also injured director Joel Souza.

He said he knew Hutchins for years, working with her "on almost all of her films. Sometimes we've shared food and water. We've been burning under the sun, freezing in the snow on the shoots. We took care of each other. Yes, I can say with 100% confidence she was my friend. WAS!!!"

Svetnoy said he was "standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Halyna during this fatal shot that took her life and injured ... Souza. I was holding her in my arms while she was dying. Her blood was on my hands."

He said it was "the fault of negligence and unprofessionalism" that the gun Baldwin was given, and was told wasn't loaded, killed Hutchins.

"The negligence from the person who was supposed to check the weapon on the site did not do this; the person who had to announce that the loaded gun was on the site did not do this; the person who should have checked this weapon before bringing it to the set did not do it," Svetnoy wrote, referring to newbie armorer Hannah Gutierrez Reed.

He went on to call out the producers, saying that to "save a dime" they hired "people who are not fully qualified for the complicated and dangerous job... There is no way a 24-year-old woman can be a professional with armory. Professionals are the people who have spent years on sets, people who know this job from A to Z."

"I do not wish anyone to go through what I went through, what her husband Matt Hutchins and her son Andros went through, and the actor Alec Baldwin, who has been handed a gun on set," Svetnoy wrote. "He has to live with the thought that he took the life of the human because of unprofessional people."

According to the Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department search warrant, camera person Reid Russell said it was a chaotic day on set due to a camera crew of about six individuals walking out of the indie film due to issues with production involving payment.

Souza told authorities that, after a lunch break, they were preparing for a scene in the church set. The gun, one of three being used, had been set up by Gutierrez Reed and left on a cart outside the set due to COVID restrictions. The gun in question was identified by assistant director David Halls, as a "cold gun," meaning it didn't have live rounds, and was given to Baldwin. Baldwin was sitting in a pew in the church building set, practicing a cross draw with the weapon when it discharged.

Souza said he heard a whip and then loud pop, then Hutchins grabbed her midsection. The director realized he had been shot as well.

Hutchins was treated by on-set medics and then airlifted to the hospital, but she died soon after. Souza was treated at the hospital and released.

A distraught Baldwin spoke out on Friday and spent time with Hutchins's husband and son over the weekend.

The Santa Fe County Sheriff's Department is holding a press conference Wednesday to discuss the latest on the case. The production has been halted for now pending investigation findings.