Tuesday night's performance of Broadway's To Kill A Mockingbird ended in terror as a motorcycle backfire was mistaken for gunshots around 10 pm outside of the Shubert Theater in New York City.
Tony- Award winning actress Celia Keenan-Bolger, who plays "Scout" in the production, took to Twitter to describe the panic that ensued, "This was terrifying for the audience who heard screaming & banging on the doors, so they hid or ran & tried to flee. It was terrifying for us because we didn't know what was happening or what to do. Our security and stage management did an amazing job of keeping people safe and as calm as possible." Civilians outside were seeking shelter inside of the Shubert theatre.
Footage released from PIX 11 shows crowds of people screaming and running in Times Square following the motorcycle backfire. The NYPD assured that there were no actual gunshots and urged the public not to panic via Twitter. Police contained the situation within five minutes.
Motorcycle backfire is not uncommon for this busy area of New York City, however due to the recent incidents in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio that killed over 30 people, tensions are heightened.
Below are tweets from people who witnessed last night's scare.
Photo: Getty