The 3 gun accidents BEFORE Alec Baldwin shot cinematographer

"I wonder how it must feel to wrongfully kill someone …"

– Alec Baldwin in a 2017 tweet

So many questions surround the mystery of Alec Baldwin's fatal shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, 42, and the wounding of director Joel Souza, 48, on the set of the movie "Rust" last week.

But at least one question has been answered by Baldwin. He now knows what it feels like to wrongfully kill someone.

"There are no words to convey my shock and sadness regarding the tragic accident that took the life of Halnya Hutchins, a wife, mother and deeply admired colleague of ours," he quickly tweeted after the shooting.

Notably missing from Baldwin's feelings were "grief," "sorrow," "regret," any expressions of mourning, misery, pain, anxiety or heartache. Perhaps he had reached his Twitter word limit.

What are some of the other agonizing questions facing the actor who could face criminal charges, or at least civil liability judgments as the shooter, star and the executive producer of the film?

The big question I would have for him is whether he ever heard the well-repeated words of anyone familiar with gun safety: "Never point a gun at someone you don't want to kill." Why did he not heed that simple advice? And how did he manage to kill one person and injure another? Did he fire two shots or more?

These weapons were said to be prop guns – which presumably don't include live rounds. Were they indeed? Had they been inspected immediately before firing?

Did Alec Baldwin himself inspect the weapon before he fired it in the direction of two people?

There are so many questions whose answers need to be revealed by the person responsible for this tragedy and said to be fully cooperating with law enforcement.

It was reported in the L.A. Times that hours before the fatal shot or shots were fired by Baldwin, a half-dozen camera crew workers walked off the set to protest working conditions – including arguments that safety protocols and gun inspections were not strictly followed. At least one camera operator complained before the shot or shots were fired about gun safety on the set.

The walkoff was prompted by other complaints that included long hours, long commutes and waiting for their paychecks.

Three crew members present at the set on Saturday said they were particularly concerned about two accidental prop gun discharges – before the shooting.

Days before the killing, Baldwin's stunt double accidentally fired two rounds after being told that the gun was "cold" – lingo for a weapon that doesn't have any ammunition, including blanks.

"There should have been an investigation into what happened," a crew member said. "There were no safety meetings. There was no assurance that it wouldn't happen again. All they wanted to do was rush, rush, rush."

One colleague was so alarmed by the prop gun misfires that he sent a text message to the unit production manager. "We've now had 3 accidental discharges. This is super unsafe."

The tragedy occurred Thursday afternoon during filming of a gunfight that began in a church that is part of the old Western town at a New Mexico ranch. Baldwin's character was supposed to back out of the church.

Reportedly, Hutchins was huddled around a monitor lining up her next camera shot when she was accidentally killed by a gun fired by Baldwin. The B-camera operator was on a dolly with a monitor, checking out the potential shots. Hutchins, reportedly, was also looking at the monitor from over the operator's shoulder, as was the movie director Souza, who was crouching just behind her.

Baldwin removed the gun from its holster once, without incident, but the second time he did so, ammunition flew toward the trio around the monitor. The projectile whizzed by the camera operator but penetrated Hutchins near her shoulder, then continued through to Souza. Hutchins immediately fell to the ground as crew members applied pressure to her wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding.

So, the story is one shot fired – at least at this point.

Late Friday it was reported Baldwin was handed a loaded weapon by an assistant director who indicated it was safe to use in the moments before the actor fired it, according to court records. The assistant director did not know the prop gun was loaded with LIVE rounds, according to a search warrant filed in a Santa Fe County court.

The person in charge of overseeing the gun props, known as the armorer, was Hannah Gutierrez Reed. The 24-year-old is the daughter of veteran armorer Thell Reed and had recently completed her first film as head armorer, for the movie "The Old Way," with Clint Howard and Nicolas Cage.

There are certainly further questions that need to be answered.

Hollywood has already begun complaining about using real guns and ammo on the set, and those concerns will only grow louder.

Meanwhile, I think Alec Baldwin's days with guns are definitely over.

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