British sports band robbed at gunpoint in California as US tour kicks off

British alternative rock band Sports Team got off to a rocky start on their latest US tour after they were reportedly robbed at gunpoint.

According to a press release, the incident happened around 8 a.m. Tuesday (December 3) at a Starbucks in Vallejo, California outside of San Francisco. Having kicked off 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 who alerted them to their van being ransacked and robbed.

“The group attempted to intervene but encountered a brandishing weapon and took cover,” the press release explains. “The band called the police and were shocked to hear that they would not be attending the crime scene.

“Instead, they were told by the police to file a report online, which they did. Laptops, personal belongings, passports and other valuables were stolen.”

The team too shared material of the incident on social media, adding their own account of how it unfolded.

“Stopped for coffee. Man runs saying some guys hit a van,” they wrote. “He ran outside to try and stop it and found masked guys ransacking the van. He starts yelling and they pull out a gun. The police response was “file an online report”. They lost a lot of personal equipment, but they didn't take the instruments so much driving to Sacramento to play tonight.

“They can take our Nintendo Switches, but they can never take our ability to play highway rock songs. In all seriousness, quite shocking how resigned everyone seemed. It 'happens'. 9 a.m. at a Starbucks gas station. Wild.”

The Sports Team continues their current tour, playing in Sacramento later Tuesday afternoon. The band are touring in advance of their upcoming album, Boys these dayswhich is scheduled to arrive on February 25th. It's the band's second visit to the US this year, having played a handful of East Coast dates in early November.