Eight people needed medical attention after a woman released bear spray during an argument in a lower Manhattan hotel Monday morning, police said.
The woman released the powerful spray about 8 a.m. inside the Double Tree by Hilton New York Downtown on Stone St. near Broadway in the Financial District before running off. She has not been caught.
A man and a woman, both 39, were taken to the hospital to be treated for minor injuries, while three men and three women were treated at the scene, mostly for itching and eye irritation, cops said.
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Guests wait on the sidewalk after a woman released bear spray inside the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in lower Manhattan on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Guests said they were instructed by hotel staff to leave the building as a precaution.
Sandy Shannon, 62, a guest at the hotel, said a woman was sprayed on the fourth floor, with two housekeepers coming to her aid.
“She was screaming in the hallway,” Shannon said. “The next thing I know we were being evacuated.”
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
A woman is treated by medics after being exposed to bear spray inside the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in lower Manhattan on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)
Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News
Firefighters respond after a woman released bear spray inside the Hilton Double Tree Hotel in lower Manhattan on Monday. (Theodore Parisienne / New York Daily News)