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Medical emergency sparks stampede at 'Hamilton' in San Francisco

Panicked audience members rushed out of the theater after mistaking an alarm during the show's duel scene for a shooting.
Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP
Lin-Manuel Miranda, center, and the cast of "Hamilton" perform at the Tony Awards at the Beacon Theatre on Sunday, June 12, 2016, in New York.

Chaos broke out during a performance of the musical "Hamilton" at San Francisco's Orpheum theater after audience members mistook a medical emergency for a shooting.

City Fire Department spokesman Jonathan Baxter said a woman had a heart attack during the Friday night performance and someone broke open an emergency defibrillator, activating an alarm as theatrical gunfire went off during the show's duel scene.

Three people were injured as panicked audience members rushed out of the theater. One person broke a leg and two others had moderate injuries.

The woman who had a heart attack remained hospitalized Saturday in critical condition.

A message to theater spokesman Scott Kane hasn't been returned.

A statement released by "Hamilton" producers and Broadway in San Francisco said they were reviewing the events that "resulted in alarm and confusion for the audience." 

"Uncertainty in the auditorium about a medical emergency taking place near the end of the show prompted the upset," the joint statement read. 

It added that patrons at the performance will be invited back to see the show. 

On Twitter, frustrated audience members described "mass chaos" and confusion claiming there was no announcement about the emergency. 

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