A performance of Hamilton in San Francisco ended in disaster after one person reportedly shouted “gun” when an audience member suffered a medical emergency.
Police told CBS News that the female spectator suffering what is believed to be a heart attack prompted someone to activate the fire pull station at the same time that fake gunshots rung out on stage.
According to onlookers at the Orpheum Theatre, including CBS Sacramento reporter Shirin Rajee who was watching the show, audience members began to “self-evacuate” in “fear of an active shooter” loose in the building.
One Twitter user, who was in attendance, described the incident as "chaos" and said said was "hunkering down in [her] seat". Another tweeted that "everyone went into survival mode... because we live in these troubled times with daily shootings".
A security officer working for the San Francisco fire department jumped into action when people in the crowd began exiting the theatre and spontaneously jumping into police patrol cars, Rajee reported.
The chaos caused injury to three people, including a broken leg. Another elderly person required a wheelchair to leave the building.
The woman who suffered the medical emergency while watching Hamilton is currently in critical condition in the hospital.
Audience and cast members were permitted to re-enter the theatre to collect their belongings, but the performance was cancelled.
