Story Archive

I Am Not Throwing Away My Shot

In the musical Hamilton, there is, of course, a pivotal scene near the end when Alexander Hamilton is shot in a duel with Aaron Burr. During a performance in San Francisco, Calif., a woman had a medical emergency, reported by witnesses as a heart attack, at that very moment. The confusion caused a panic in the audience. “Somebody said ‘gun, there’s a gun,’ and then we heard someone else say ‘shooter,’ someone else said ‘bomb,’” said witness Heidi Reicherter. At the same time, a San Francisco Fire Department spokesman said, “An AED was pulled, which also triggered an alarm,” and “resulted in confusion and an un organized rapid exit of the theater” by the audience. Three people were injured in the “un organized” mass retreat. Once it was clear what happened the theater reopened, but the rest of the show was canceled. (MS/KPIX San Francisco, CNN) ...For missing the end of the show, the theater will refund each attendee one “Hamilton”.