The British band Sports Team were robbed at gunpoint Tuesday while on the US leg of their tour outside San Francisco, the group have said.
According to a statement provided by the six-member group, a thief stole stage equipment, laptops, passports, personal items and other valuables while the band stopped for breakfast at a Starbucks in Vallejo, California, at 8.45am local time. In the store, a passerby reportedly alerted the band that someone was ransacking their tour van. When band members attempted to intervene, the perpetrator brandished a gun, they said.
“Somebody opened the door and was like: Does anybody have a white Sprinter van? Because you’re being robbed right now,” drummer Al Greenwood told the BBC.
“So we all ran out, shouting. Lauren, our tour manager, was slightly ahead of me, and somebody else ran past us in the opposite direction, and said: ‘Careful, he’s holding something.’”
“I really thought I was about to watch someone get shot, because it took a while for our tour manager to realize,” she added.
In a video filmed from inside the Starbucks, a suspect can be seen waving a gun at the group’s tour manager as she approaches the van. The suspect then takes items out of the van, while band members and onlookers take cover inside.
“Obviously, if someone pulls a gun, you run for cover,” singer Alex Rice told the BBC. “But the thing that struck me about it was the resignation. The people around us weren’t very panicked at all. It seemed like a very everyday occurrence.”
The band called the police, who they say refused to come, instead instructing them to file a report online.
The indie group, who have scored two top 10 albums in the UK, will continue with plans to play on Tuesday evening in Sacramento, and will return to the area for another show on Saturday. They recently played several shows on the east coast without incident.
