Gun Scare at Union Square Movie Theater: Crowd Stampedes Out of 'La La Land'

UNION SQUARE, NY — During a Saturday night showing of "La La Land," a new musical comedy starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, one man's erratic behavior triggered theatergoers at Regal Cinemas Union Square to rush out of the theater, some leaving bags and other belongings behind, police said. No one was reported hurt. However, some patrons are complaining the theater did not handle the incident well.

The events reportedly started around 11:45 p.m., when, during the last 10 minutes of the film, a man holding a cup and bag walked up to the front of the theater and stood in front of the screen. He then turned around slowly, muttering to himself.

"What really freaked my friend and I out was when he said, 'I'm sorry. I'm so sorry,'" Chelsea Grogan, 24, who was sitting in the balcony, told Gothamist. "I was like, is he going to do something?"

“Popcorn started flying, candy bars went flying through the air, people were jumping over their seats,” Ben Gilbert, who was sitting in the fourth row Saturday night, told CBS.

As attendees poured out of the theater, rumors apparently circulated that the man had a gun — although theater staff later told the NYPD that the man, who had purchased a ticket to a different film before wandering into "La La Land," did not display or mention a weapon.

According to witnesses, the theater doors weren't wide enough to accommodate the mass exodus of people. Plus, theater staff didn't seem to know whether or not the police had been called.

"Four years after Aurora there should be a protocol in place, Grogan told Gothamist. She posted a complaint on Twitter saying she was only able to reach "automated messages" when she called the theater.

The man apparently fled the theater with the crowd, and no arrests had been made as of Monday, according to the NYPD.

Regal Entertainment Group, which owns Regal Cinemas Union Square as well as hundreds of theaters nationwide, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.