Panic Erupts at Hamilton Performance Because of False Active Shooter Threat
Lin-Manuel Miranda.A Friday evening Hamilton performance in San Francisco left three people injured after an attendee suffered a medical emergency that was mistaken for an active shooter situation. Per CNN, a woman experienced a heart attack during the musical’s pivotal scene when Alexander Hamilton is shot by Aaron Burr in a duel, which caused many audience members to “self-evacuate” after believing the woman, who stood up to leave the theater to seek treatment, was actually shot. Panic further spread when someone in the audience yelled “gun!”, prompting the theater’s attendees to stampede outside. Police told CNN that three people were injured and taken to a nearby hospital as a result, with the most serious injury being a broken leg. The woman who suffered from the heart attack was also hospitalized and in critical condition.
In a tweet, the city’s Orpheum Theatre said an attendee “activated the theater’s fire pull station,” which instructed the audience and cast to “follow the life/safety system’s automatic announcement and exit the theater.” However, followup tweets from attendees said they believed the theater failed these supposed safety protocols, with many people likening what happened to “mass chaos” with “absolutely no support and direction” from the staff. In fact, one attendee witnessed “staff hiding themselves” from the pandemonium.
During a medical event at the SHN Orpheum Theatre this evening an audience member activated the theater's fire pull station. The audience and cast followed the life/safety system's automatic announcement and exited the theater.
— BroadwaySF (@broadwaysf) February 16, 2019Police outside responded quickly. Thankfully there was no gun, no shooter. It was however a scary few minutes. Many many people here are visibly shaken. Crowds were running for the exits and ducking for cover @FOX40 pic.twitter.com/3MSrxNOOmG
— Joe Khalil (@JoeKhalilTV) February 16, 2019As a result of the panic, the Hamilton performance did not finish and attendees were instructed by police to go home.
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