British indie band Sports Team says they were held at gunpoint Tuesday morning while on tour in Vallejo, California, during a stop at a Starbucks gas station.
“I was just robbed at gunpoint 10 minutes into the US tour,” the band said in a statement to more than 69,000 combined followers on Instagram and X/Twitter.
The band filled in the details of the violent altercation, which occurred when they “stopped for coffee” while en route from San Francisco, where they played Monday, to Sacramento, where they played Tuesday.
The band said a man came across the location they were at “and said some guys were crashing into a van,” after which they “ran outside to try to stop it and found masked men looting the van,” in which a passenger sat. window.
The Cambridge-based band from London said this after they started ‘yelling’ at the robbers, who in turn ‘pulled out a gun’ to fend them off.
In a clip of the incident alongside the statement, filmed from the station, the band’s tour manager was seen confronting a robber, who pulled out a firearm.
British indie band Sports Team says they were held at gunpoint Tuesday morning while on tour in Vallejo, California, during a stop at a Starbucks gas station.
In a clip of the incident alongside the statement, filmed from the station, the band’s tour manager was seen confronting a robber, who pulled out a firearm.
Drummer Alex Greenwood narrated it BBC Tuesday: ‘Someone opened the door and asked: does anyone have a white Sprinter van? Because now you’re being robbed. So we all ran outside screaming.
‘Lauren, our tour manager, was slightly ahead of me, and someone else ran past us in the opposite direction and said, “Watch out, he’s holding something.”
Greenwood continued, “I honestly thought I was about to see someone get shot because it took a while for our tour manager to realize it. In the video you can hear me shouting at her to lie down.’
The band said in a statement on social media that the robbers stole “many personal items” but “did not get the instruments” because they could have played their show at the Goldfield Trading Post in Sacramento.
“They can take our Nintendo Switches, but they can never take our ability to play rock songs on highways,” the band said.
The band said the police response was to “file an online report” as they were surprised by the tolerance towards the criminal act.
“Quite shocking, honestly, how resigned everyone seemed to be about it,” the band said. “It happens.” 9am at a Starbucks gas station. Wild.’
Singer Alex Rice told the BBC: ‘Obviously if someone pulls a gun you take cover. But what struck me was the dismissal. The people around us weren’t panicking at all. It seemed like a very mundane occurrence.”
The English band is currently touring the west coast of the US
Drummer Alex Greenwood shared a selfie from Sacramento to indicate that the band arrived in California’s capital without further incident
The group received supportive comments from fans on social media following the harrowing incident
Rice added, “We’re going to keep playing. We have nothing against the Bay Area. We love it here, but it’s sad that it ended up in places like this by force of arms.’
Greenwood later shared a selfie from Sacramento to indicate that the band had arrived in California’s capital without further incident. She wrote: ‘Thank you for all the lovely messages, we are safe and well and the show goes on.’
The group received supportive comments from fans on social media following the harrowing incident.
“I’m glad you’re doing well and continuing with the tour. What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger!!” said one fan.
Another said: ‘That sucks. Sorry. Hard to know if you’re in a good area, I’m sure you have an idea how to tell, but when you see bars on the windows you know it’s not such a good area. Good luck and stay safe.”
One fan said the incident was a microcosm of the problems the US faces in crime, saying: ‘It’s so normal for them, crazy country;’ while another fan suggested band members ‘should have gotten in someone else’s car and ran the c*** over.’
The musical ensemble has had a pair of Top 10 albums in Britain, the BBC reported.