Metallica Bassist Was Once Caught in a Manson Family Shootout

Metallica bassist Robert Trujillo recently appeared on the Offspring's Time to Relax podcast and revealed a fascinating story from his past. When he was 6 years old, he said he and his family were caught in the middle of a shootout between the Manson Family and the local police.

It happened in the Hawthorne area of Los Angeles, where Trujillo's grandmother lived.

"I’m staying at my grandma’s house,” Trujillo said. “The gun shop, the army surplus shop around the corner on Hawthorne Boulevard, was robbed. And basically, the Manson family had this grand scheme. You can check it out on the internet."

You can watch the interview below.

Trujillo noted that the Manson Family members "were gonna rob the gun store and get their ammo and everything, and they were gonna go to [Los Angeles International Airport], and the plan was to hijack a 747 and demand that Charlie gets sent to them, and they’re gonna take this plane to God knows where.”

The Manson Family's 1971 Shootout

Charles Manson had been arrested by the time members of his group had hatched the plan. He and four other members of the Family were indicted in December 1969 for the murders of several people in the area in one of the most horrific cases of the 20th century.

"Obviously, the plan didn’t work," Trujillo concluded. "Cops show up. There’s a shootout. We’re hearing gunshots, the whole deal. All of a sudden you get the [police helicopters], and they’re flying around. They’re talking through their kind of intercom, whatever they got going up there: ‘Everybody, take cover.’ … And so my dad turns off all the lights. We’re hiding in the shower. And it was really eerie.”

The four Manson followers involved in the incident – Mary Brunner, Catherine (Gypsy) Share, Lawrence Bailey and Kenneth Como - were convicted in the robbery and shootout. Manson served life in prison, dying at age 83 in 2017.

Trujillo, meanwhile, is still on the road with Metallica, whose tour resumes on Nov. 3 with the first of two shows in St. Louis. Earlier this month the band played a triumphant set at the inaugural Power Trip festival in Indio, California.