Hotel fight spurs evacuation, arrest

A man is in custody after police say he assaulted staffers at the Marriott Marquis hotel and broke into a room, sparking a hotelwide evacuation Friday night.

Before police arrived, hotel staff heard what they believed was a gunshot coming from the room that the man had broken into, which prompted the evacuation order. Officials did not find a firearm or “any evidence that a shot was fired,” Assistant Chief Larry Satterwhite said.

The issue arose after the man, who officials did not identify, made his way to the 29th floor and began feuding with two hotel employees who “knew something was up,” Satterwhite told reporters. As the employees tried to persuade the man to return to the lobby, the man punched them. He then grabbed a fire extinguisher and, after threatening the employees with the device, used it to break into a hotel room.

Police units arrived at the hotel at 10:48 p.m. after hotel staff called with reports of an active shooter.

“He started making alarming statements to the hotel security and management, something to the nature of, ‘I have something for you right here,’ and then they heard a pop, what they interpreted to be a gunshot,” Satterwhite said.

The man refused to surrender to police, but they eventually subdued him with a Taser and took him into custody. Officials transported the man to Ben Taub Hospital, where he was placed under emergency detention.

“He was still acting very erratically, he was clearly in crisis, as far as they could tell,” Satterwhite said.

A guest had checked into the room but was not there when the man broke in. The hotel was almost fully occupied, officials said, prompting hundreds of people to evacuate.