Metallica’s Robert Trujillo
Photo: Getty Images for Power Trip, Kevin Mazur. All rights reserved.
Metallica’s Robert Trujillo came into contact with the dangerous Manson Family in the 1970s. The musician revealed that he once had to hide from a killer gang shootout in an army store in Hawthorne, Los Angeles.
The attack occurred on August 21, 1971, when Trujillo was six years old. “I lived at my grandmother’s house,” Trujillo said in a conversation for The Offspring’s “Time To Relax” podcast. “The gun store, the Army Surplus Shop around the corner on Hawthorne Boulevard, was robbed. And basically, the Manson family had a big plan. You can read it on the internet.”
Manson Family planned plane hijacking
Trujillo was clearer: “They wanted to rob the gun store and get ammunition and everything else to go to LAX [Los Angeles International Airport, Anm. d. Red.] to go and hijack a 747 so that it could be Charlie [Charles Manson, Anm. d. Red.] get free. They were going to take that plane to God knows where.”
As is well known, the plan did not work. “Cops showed up and there was a shootout,” the Metallica bassist said. “We heard shots, the whole program. Suddenly the ghetto birds appeared [Polizeihubschrauber, Anm. d. Red.] up and flew around. Their intercom, or whatever they have up there, said, ‘Everyone take cover’. So my father turned off all the lights. We hid in the shower. And it was really scary.”
The failed robbery operation ended with prison sentences for four members of the Manson Family: Mary Brunner, Catherine Share (known as Gypsy), Lawrence Bailey and Kenneth Como. Charles Manson was serving a life sentence until he died behind bars in 2017 at the age of 83 – after numerous rejected requests to be released.
Metallica are currently on tour to promote their new record “72 Seasons.” They recently had a celebrated performance at the Power Trip Festival, where the band and especially Lars Ulrich were amazed at their strong colleagues.