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Market Street closed after reports of gunshots at Palace Hotel
San Francisco police said a suspect was barricaded inside the hotel and refused to come out.
SAN FRANCISCO - A suspect barricaded inside San Francisco's Palace Hotel after gunshots were reportedly fired on Saturday afternoon, prompting police to shut down several blocks downtown, as well as the evacuation of some guests from their rooms.
Saturday's massive power outage complicated matters for police trying to resolve the situation.
What we know:
San Francisco Police officers were sent just after 12:15 p.m to New Montgomery Street near Market Street on reports of gunshots and "located a possible suspect in the building," the department’s Officer Robert Rueca told KTVU.
The suspect refused orders from police to exit the building, the SFPD said.
Police said that some people were evacuated, with a hotel employee telling KTVU that fourth floor guests specifically were evacuated from their rooms. The SFPD also advised the public to avoid the area until the scene was cleared.
SFPD hostage negotiation experts and a tactical unit were sent to the scene in an attempt to resolve the situation, and a drone was used as well.
What they're saying:
KTVU spoke to a couple of people who had just arrived from Italy, who had a reservation at the Palace Hotel, but found themselves unable to get near it.
"Well, everything is closed, we can't pass actually. We just arrived from the airport," said Joanna Krenva. "So we are quite tired actually and we have to wait. We tried to call and they didn't answer."
"We're still trying to process everything," said Filippo Ruggieri.
If you have any information that might be helpful to police, you're asked to call SFPD.
This is a developing story. Please stay with KTVU for updates.