At least two accidental shootings took place during the filming of "Rust" a few days before the horrific accident in which Alec Baldwin killed the director of photography Halina Hutchins on the set, according to three former members of the film crew.

Former members of the team say that the unplanned shooting happened on October 16, and they blame the supervisor for the security situation on the set, which is being filmed in the suburbs of Santa Fe, writes "New York Times".

As they say, they together with several other workers resigned a few hours before the fatal shooting, due to unpaid work and the conditions in which the production took place. They asked to remain anonymous for fear that this could affect their future involvement in the film industry.

Larry Zanoff, who worked in charge of the weapons in "Zhang's Revenge" and trained the cast members in safe handling of firearms, explains that if a firearm was fired on a film set, an investigation must be carried out to determine whether the weapon is defective or mismanaged. If the weapon is found to be mishandled, the production will have to strengthen security protocols or ban the use of firearms.

It remains unclear whether such an investigation was conducted after October 16, when the accidental unplanned shooting took place.

The producers, as well as Alec Baldwin himself, issued a statement on Friday stating that they were not aware of any security concerns.

"Although we were not aware of any official complaints regarding the safety of the weapons or props on the set, we will conduct an internal assessment of the protocol, and recording has been suspended." The company said it would continue to work with Santa Fe authorities, as well as offer psychological assistance to actors and team members in this "tragic time".

It remains unclear how Alec Baldwin used a gun that was not safe on the set. As Santa Fe police were told, Baldwin was told that the weapon handed over to the set was a "cold gun", which in film jargon meant a weapon that had been emptied. The statement further states that the weapon was loaded by weapons officer Hannah Guterres and handed over to him by Dave Hals, assistant director. Neither Guterres nor Hals wanted to make a statement.