ABC's 'The Rookie' bans use of live guns on set following accidental shooting on 'Rust' set

• ABC's cop drama "The Rookie" will no longer use "live weapons" on set, the showrunner announced.
• The policy change comes one day after Thursday's fatal shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's "Rust."

ABC's "The Rookie" will no longer use live weapons on set in the aftermath of Thursday's fatal shooting on the set of Alec Baldwin's Western, "Rust," according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The cop drama primarily uses CGI to render muzzle flashes in the editing room, but has employed "live" weapons in certain instances in the past, the outlet reported. Starting Friday, however, showrunner Alexi Hawley said the series will no longer do so.

In a memo to staff obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Hawley said all gunfire on the show will now be achieved using AirSoft guns with CG muzzle flashes added after filming.

"There will be no more 'live' weapons on the show. The safety of our cast and crew is too important. Any risk is too much risk," he reportedly wrote.

AirSoft guns produce less forward energy than a regular gun and use pellets instead of bullets, according to the outlet.

The move comes one day after actor Alec Baldwin discharged a prop firearm on the set of "Rust," accidentally killing the movie's cinematographer, Halyna Hutchins, and injuring the director, Joel Souza.

The prop gun contained a "live round," a prop masters union told its members on Friday. A source in the union told the Los Angeles Times that "live round" in the film industry refers to any item loaded into a gun, including blanks. It remains unclear what type of projectile was in the gun that killed Hutchins.

Baldwin is cooperating with authorities in the ongoing investigation into what went wrong. No charges have been filed. On Friday, the actor released a statement saying he was "heartbroken."

-AlecBaldwin(HABF) (@AlecBaldwin) October 22, 2021

Earlier Friday, the showrunner of "The Boys" made a similar pledge, vowing to never use firearm blanks again.

"In her memory, a simple, easy pledge: no more guns with blanks on any of my sets ever," Eric Kripke, a producer of the Amazon series "The Boys," said on Twitter. "We'll use VFX muzzle flashes. Who's with me?"