Hamilton Audience Bolts for Doors Amid Chaos

An audience member's heart attack set things in motion
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 16, 2019 11:11 AM CST
Hamilton Audience Bolts for Doors Amid Chaos
Lin-Manuel Miranda, composer and creator of the award-winning Broadway musical, Hamilton, offers a message of gratitude after receiving a standing ovation at the end of the play's premiere held at the Santurce Fine Arts Center, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Friday, Jan. 11, 2019.   (AP Photo/Carlos Giusti)

A Hamilton audience in San Francisco ran for the doors Friday night and injured three people after a woman attending the show had a heart attack, People reports. Seems someone pulled a defibrillator from a wall at the Orpheum Theatre, which triggered a fire alarm and caused what the San Francisco Fire Department is calling "an unorganized rapid exit of the theater." Videos of the confusion have popped up on social media, per the San Francisco Chronicle, with some saying people fled after hearing the word "gun" spoken.

The injuries were non-life threatening, but one person had a broken leg; the woman with a medical emergency was taken to hospital and is in critical condition, per CNN. The show, which officially cost up to $686 per ticket, did not go on. (An earlier report said gunshots from the stage triggered the mass panic, which doesn't appear to be true.)

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