British Band Robbed at Gunpoint During Their First US Tour Stop

British band Sports Team was robbed at gunpoint on the first day of their US tour while stopping for coffee in California.

British indie band Sports Team has been robbed at gunpoint on the first day of their US tour. The group, who have two Top 10 albums in the UK, stopped for coffee at a Starbucks in Vallejo, California, when their van was looted and their passports, stage equipment, and personal items taken. The thief brandished a gun at the group when they tried to intervene.

“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.”

At around 8:45 AM, the group stopped at Starbucks for breakfast on their way to Sacramento for the opening date of their tour. While inside, a passerby alerted them about a robbery in progress at their tour van.

“Somebody opened the door and was like, 'does anybody have a white Sprinter van? Because you're being robbed right now,'” said drummer Al Greenwood. “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,” Greenwood added. “In the video, you can hear me screaming at her to get down.”

the video, posted to the band's Instagram, was filmed by another member of the band from inside the coffee shop. Staff can be heard calmly advising them to come back inside.

“It was very discombobulating, because they just carried on with their shift,” said Greenwood. “They started serving drinks straight away,” Rice added.

When the band contacted the police, they said they were advised to fill out “an online form” about the robbery, and that no officers were sent to investigate the scene.

The group said the thief smashed the van's passenger window, and took cameras and laptops used on stage, the band's passports and documents, in addition to suitcases full of clothing. “So we're going to be wearing the same things for the next two weeks,” they added.

The silver lining was that the group's instruments were housed in a separate, locked compartment in the back of the van, and weren't taken. The band remains hopeful that they can play the tour as scheduled.

“We're definitely not going to let this put us off,” said Greenwood. “And ultimately, it really makes you reflect on things to be grateful for, both here and at home.”

“We're going to keep playing,” said Rice. “We've got nothing against the Bay Area — we think it's great here. But it's sad that it's kind of got to this sort of place with gun violence.”

Sports Team's upcoming third album, Boys These Daysreleases at the end of February. The tour kicked off Tuesday night in Sacramento and continues Saturday with a show in San Francisco.