Alec Baldwin is in “unimaginable pain” following the fatal film-set shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, his wife Hilaria has said.

In a post on Instagram, Mrs Baldwin said her husband had been “somehow put in this unthinkable nightmare”.

The Hollywood actor, 63, accidentally shot and killed Halyna Hutchins when a gun he was holding went off during filming for Rust in New Mexico.

In a first interview on the shooting, he said he does not feel guilt and there is “only one question to be resolved – where did the live round come from?”

His wife, 37, with whom he has six children, said the tragedy is “etched in my memory”.

Alongside a picture of the couple on their wedding day, she wrote: “The horrific loss, the torture to her family, and you, my husband, somehow put in this unthinkable nightmare.

“I am here, I love you, and I will take care of you. These were the only words that came to me when we learned Halyna had died. I remember saying that phrase over and over again.”

Mrs Baldwin said she was unsure whether the actor should have given the interview.

She added: “I was afraid for you to open up because I’ve seen your spirit crushed, your mental health shattered, your soul in unimaginable pain.

“Sometimes I wonder how much one body, one mind can take. I don’t want to lose you.

“You know yourself and wanted to speak. I am proud of you. We become scared and crumble as some speak about us. Everything gets twisted and turned, torn apart, picked at, even invented.”

Mrs Baldwin described the couple as “easy targets”, because they are “messy, unfiltered, and wear our hearts, naked, on our sleeves”.

She continued: “We are so sensitive that to hurt us is easy.”

She finished by writing “We honour Halyna and her family,” and hopes the cause of the shooting will be discovered “to make sure it never happens again”.

Meanwhile, some of the people who handled guns on the film set may face criminal charges, New Mexico’s district attorney has said.

Mary Carmack-Altwies has not made any decisions yet on charges, she added, but said everyone involved “in the handling and use of firearms on the set had a duty to behave in a manner such that the safety of others was protected.”

Once the investigation is complete “certain individuals may be criminally culpable for his/her actions and/or inactions on the set of Rust”, she said.