Actor shot dead while filming Australian music video

An actor was shot dead while filming a scene for an Australian music video on Monday, police said.

It wasn't immediately clear if the guns on the set were loaded with live ammunition or blanks.

The man, aged in his 20s, was shot in the chest and pronounced dead at a bar in the eastern city of Brisbane just before 2 p.m. local time, Queensland Police Service said in a statement. The Courier Mail named him as Johann Ofner, a stuntman and carpenter.

"Initial information indicates a music video scene was being filmed involving actors using firearms," the police statement said.

Bliss N Eso, an Australian hip hop group, said the incident happened during the filming was for one of their videos, the Courier Mail reported.

“We are able to confirm the death of a person occurred today at the filming of a Bliss n Eso music clip,” the group said in a statement, according to the newspaper.

“The band were not on site at the time. The video production crew and our team are currently working with the police in their investigation and we are unable to provide further comment at this time," the statement added.

Queensland Police Detective Inspector Tom Armitt said several actors fired their guns during the scene, the Associated Press reported.

“I can’t tell you whether they are live or real firearms,” Armitt said. “I can’t tell you the type of ammunition that were being used. That will be a subject of the investigation.”

Blank cartridges can still cause injuries if they are fired at close range.