British Band Sports Team Robbed at Gunpoint in California as U.S. Tour Begins

British alternative rock band Sports Team have had an unfortunate start to their latest U.S. tour, having been reportedly robbed at gunpoint.

Per a press release, the incident occurred around 8am on Tuesday (Dec. 3) at a Starbucks in Vallejo, CA outside of San Francisco. Having launched their west coast tour the night before with a show at San Francisco’s Kilowatt, the band’s brief stop was interrupted by an onlooker alerting them that their tour van was being ransacked and robbed.

“The band attempted to intervene but were met with a gun being brandished and took cover,” the press release explained. “The band called the police, and were shocked to hear they would not attend the scene of the crime.

“Instead, they were told by police to file a report online, which they have done. Laptops, personal items, passports and other valuables were stolen.”

The group also shared footage of the incident on social media, adding their own account of how it unfolded as well.

“Stopped for coffee. Man runs in saying some guys are smashing into a van,” they wrote. “Ran out to try to stop it and find masked guys ransacking the van. Start yelling and they pull out a gun. Police response was ‘submit an online report.’ Lost a lot of personal gear, but they didn’t get the instruments so driving on to Sacramento to play tonight.

“They can take our Nintendo Switches but they can never take our ability to play rock songs about motorways. In all seriousness pretty shocking how resigned everyone seemed to be to it. ‘It happens’. 9am at some petrol station Starbucks. Wild.”

Sports Team are continuing their current tour, performing in Sacramento later on Tuesday evening. The band are touring in the lead-up to their forthcoming album, Boys These Days, which is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 25. It’s the band’s second visit to the U.S. this year, having performed a handful of east coast dates in early November.