HILARIA Baldwin says she fears her husband Alec will develop PTSD after the "traumatic" on-set fatal shooting of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins last week.

The 37-year-old also took to Instagram on Saturday night to show solidarity with her husband, telling him "I'm here and I love you" hours after the pair shared a tense exchange with paparazzi in Manchester, Vermont.

Hilaria's heartfelt post included an image of her hand intertwined with her husband's in bed.

The yoga instructor, who has deep familial ties to the New England area, told the NY Post how she bundled her six children and their pets into a car and fled New York without a destination in mind when she learned of Hutchins' death.

“I didn’t know where I was going, I just drove,” she said. “I just drove around and around and around with my kids.”

Hilaria added that she drove round for an entire day to find somewhere remote and away from the glare of the news media before settling on the ski town of Manchester. The Baldwins have remained there ever since.

'TRYING TO LIMIT PTSD'

Hutchins' tragic death unfolded during rehearsals on the set of Alec's upcoming western flick, Rust, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on October 21.

The 30 Rock star had been practicing a "cross draw" when a revolver he was handed by the productions assistant director, Dave Halls, discharged either shrapnel or a bullet.

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Hutchins, 42, was struck in the stomach. She was airlifted to hospital but died from her injuries. Rust's writer and director Joel Souza, 48, was hit in the shoulder but survived.

Hilaria said she fears Alec will develop post-traumatic stress disorder for his involvement in the incident.

“I brought [Alec] up here because we have to mourn Halyna’s death,” she said. “Alec had a really traumatic thing happen, and I am trying to limit the PTSD.

“You look at what happens to soldiers and police officers when something like this happens, it’s traumatic. We just came up here for quiet.”

When asked by the Post if she believed her husband would ever act again, Hilaria said she was hopeful but not certain.

“He needs space for me to take care of him and his mental health,” she said. “It’s an awful thing that happened. Alec feels awful.”

MENTAL HEALTH

Therapist and coach to the actors and performers Cathy Spaas explained to The Sun what someone goes through mentally and psychologically after such an event.

She said: "First of all, a lot of creatives including actors are what’s known as HSP (Highly Sensitive People).

"Their brains process information on a deeper level, it is what allows them to bring such depth of emotion and authenticity to their acting roles and their creative process, but it also means that they feel things very deeply, which can be extremely painful and difficult to deal with in their personal lives. 

"Once they get into a negative thinking spiral of blame and shame, it is very hard to get out of that pattern of thought and the circle of negative thinking. It is very important that we are aware of the power of our brain and our thoughts.

"The way we speak to ourselves and start managing our thoughts is so important because it can be extremely destructive. A lot of people lose themselves after traumatic events because they are unable to breakaway from that spiral of thinking and obsessing over the event and the self loathing or guilt that they feel."

'WE WANT ANSWERS'

In the meantime, Hilaria said she and the rest of the Baldwin family are eagerly awaiting the results of the Santa Fe County Sheriff's investigation into the shooting.

“There’s going to be no answers until we hear the results of the investigation,” she said.

“We don’t know what happened, and we have the same questions as everyone does. We want answers faster than anyone. We have to have respect for the process of the authorities.

“Alec has done movies with guns for 40 years. Nothing like this has ever happened. There should be zero probability of that ever happening.”

Earlier Saturday, Alec broke his silence by speaking publicly about Hutchins' death for the first time with a group of paparazzi at the side of a road.

Looking forlorn and haggard, a stern Alec reiterated several times that he's not allowed to "make any comments because it's an ongoing investigation."

"I've been ordered by the Sheriff's Department in Santa Fe. I can't answer any questions about the investigation. I can't," he said, adding that he's in communication will the police every day.

"It's an active investigation … a woman died," he continued. "She was my friend.The day I arrived in Santa Fe to start shooting I took her to dinner with Joel the director."

Alec then snapped at Hilaria, telling him "excuse me" when she attempted to interrupt him.

He continued: "We were a very, very well-oiled crew shooting a film together and then this horrible event happened."

'OVERWHELMED WITH GRIEF'

At one point, Alec and Hilaria appeared to get upset at a reporter for asking about the shooting but forgetting Hutchins' name.

"Her name is Halyna," Hilaria snapped. "If you're spending this much time waiting for us you should know her name."

Baldwin also confirmed for reporters that he met with Hutchin's husband and her nine-year-old son after the tragic incident, but said he "wouldn't know how to categorize" the emotional gravity of the meeting.

"The guy is overwhelmed with grief," Baldwin said. "There are incidental accidents on film sets from time to time, but nothing like this. This is a one in a trillion episode."

The 63-year-old said he's in "constant contact" with Hutchins' husband and son who are "in shock."

"We are eagerly awaiting the Sheriff's Department telling us what their investigation has yielded," Baldwin said.

'HORRIBLE CATASTROPHE'

Though the actor could not share much information about the fatal shooting, he did say that he fully supports increasing safety measures when firearms are used on film sets, including perhaps banning real guns and live ammo in the future.

"I do know that an ongoing effort to limit the use of firearms on film sets is something I'm extremely interested in," Baldwin said.

"But remember, something that I think is important and that is how many bullets have been fired in films and TV shows in the last 75 years? This is America. How many bullets have gone off, nearly all of them without incident."

Baldwin continued that in the wake of this "horrible catastrophic thing some new measures have to take place."

"That's not for me to decide," he said. "It's urgent that you understand I'm not an expert in this field so whatever other people decide is the best way to go in terms of protecting people's safety on film sets I'm all in favor of and I will cooperate with that in any way that I can."

When asked if he thinks production will start up again on Rust, Alec simply said: "No, I doubt it."

The actor ended the conversation by saying that his children were in the car crying because the family was being followed by the paparazzi.

He noted that they "stopped as a courtesy," and asked reporters, "please, will you stop following us?"

WEAPON 'NOT CHECKED'

Baldwin has frequently been tailed by reporters in Manchester since he was first spotted in the region last Sunday.

The circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation, but the tragic incident reportedly unfolded on Oct. 21 as Baldwin was practicing a "cross-draw" during rehearsal.

Baldwin's gun – a revolver – discharged either shrapnel or a bullet, which hit two people on set: Halyna Hutchins and director Joel Souza.

According to the Associated Press, Baldwin was handed the gun by his assistant director, Dave Halls, who told him it was "cold" and therefore safe to use.

Halls later admitted to investigators that he didn't properly check the weapon, only inspecting three of its five chambers before giving it to Baldwin.

The shock admission was made public in the unsealing of a Sante Fe County Sheriff's department search warrant, which also included details of investigators' discussions with Hannah Gutierrez-Reed, 24, the movies' head armorer.

Halls said that Reed passed him the gun. He said she would usually "spin the drum" to show him the ammo before he would declare it safe.

However, he told cops that he "couldn't remember" whether she did so in the moments before last Thursday's shooting.

Halls said that he could only remember seeing three dummy bullets in the chamber, which he says could be identified by a hole in the side of the cartridge.

Reed, meanwhile, told investigators she had checked the gun and insisted there were never "any live rounds" on set.

But police recovered more than 500 rounds of ammunition while executing a search warrant on Wednesday, including an undisclosed number of live rounds.

BALDWIN COULD FACE CHARGES

During a press conference on Wednesday, Santa Fe Sheriff Adan Mendoza refused to rule out charges against Baldwin, confirming that he is an "active part of this investigation."

"As far as we understand, live rounds should not be on set," he said. "The key questions we're focusing on is how the live rounds ended up on set, who brought them on set, and why they brought them on set.

"We've got some initial statements. There were close to 100 people total on-set. Interviews are continuing."

He confirmed that the Emmy-winning actor is cooperating with investigators and was not required to stay in New Mexico as part of their probe.

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