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Three attending Hamilton performance in San Francisco injured amid panic

By Allen Cone
Hamilton opened on Tuesday at Orpheum in San Francisco and is scheduled to run through Sept. Photo courtesy Hamilton/Twitter
Hamilton opened on Tuesday at Orpheum in San Francisco and is scheduled to run through Sept. Photo courtesy Hamilton/Twitter

Feb. 16 (UPI) -- Three people attending a performance of Hamilton in San Francisco were injured when they left the the theater in a panic, incorrectly assuming there was a shooting.

Instead, commotion ensued when a woman had a medical emergency during a scene in which Founding Father Alexander Hamilton is shot on stage. An automated external defibrillator was pulled, resulting in an alarm being triggered, the San Francisco Fire Department posted on Twitter.

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"A woman had some type of medical emergency," San Francisco Police officer Joseph Tomlinson told USA Today. "At the same time there was gunfire during the performance at Hamilton and the audience connected the two ... and started 'self evacuating.' "

People were frantically piling out of the Orpheum Theatre as armed officers responded to the scene. Also, the Hamilton cast evacuated.

The fire department said "the incident was not an intentional act."

The person who required an AED had a return of pulse with CPR and paramedic, and remains in critical condition at a hospital, the fire department said. One person had a broken leg and two had "moderate injuries."

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The cast returned, prompting a round of applause, but the play did not resume.

The producers of Hamilton and Shorenstein Hays Nederlander, the theatrical entertainment company in the Bay Area, invited the audience members to return to see Hamilton in a future show.

"Uncertainty in the auditorium about a medical emergency taking place near the end of the show spread quickly and prompted the upset," SHN posted on Twitter. "Along with SHN, the owners of the Orpheum, we remain dedicated to protecting the safety of our audiences and our own company members in every city where Hamilton plays."

Many patrons criticized the lack of protocol and assistance during the incident.

"I was in the balcony with my 6 and 9 year old," Laura Lasnier tweeted. "There was absolutely NO announcement. There was mass chaos and absolutely no support and direction from SHN staff. Extremely disappointed in how the event was handled."

Ana Giulia, another audience member, tweeted: "Disappointed and frustrated for going through hell on a night that was meant to be amazing because of a lack of protocol and organization."

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