Comedian Craig Robinson was forced to cancel a set at a comedy club in Charlotte, North Carolina on Saturday night after a gunman reportedly opened fire at the venue.
Robinson, who has starred in The Office and many other high-profile projects on television and in film, was scheduled to perform that evening at The Comedy Zone in the North Carolina city. However, when he was in the green room preparing for the show, a man at the venue reportedly took out a gun and began firing in the crowd.
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According to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department, the venue was “quickly evacuated” when the incident occurred before Robinson’s 9:00 p.m. set. Despite shots being fired in close quarters, police report that no one was injured in the incident. Thank goodness! The suspect, who has not been publicly identified, was taken into custody at the scene.
The Comedy Zone released a statement about the incident to People. In it, the venue’s spokesperson thanked staff and police for acting quickly to evacuate the people who had been there to see Hot Tub Time Machine star:
“In lieu of the events last night we would like to thank all the amazing people that work day in and day out to make the Comedy Zone what it is. They immediately jumped into action and got everyone safely out of the building. We would also like to thank the CMPD for their swift response and peaceful resolution to the situation.”
The comedy venue later announced they are fully refunding all attendees that night. We’re just happy nobody was injured and the CMPD got on scene quickly to keep everyone safe!
The comic detailed his own scary experience with that active shooter on his Instagram page, too. Robinson posted a nearly six-minute-long video explaining his evacuation to his followers. The 50-year-old comic detailed the fear and sudden order to flee that came with the first report of the shooting:
“I’m performing at The Comedy Zone in Charlotte, North Carolina. There was an active shooter in the comedy club. I’m safe. I’m cool. It was wild. I was in the green room and they’re like, ‘Everybody get out.’ It was a moment for sure.”
We can’t even imagine…
Cops swooped in to the rescue, and people from the comedy club — including Robinson — were evacuated to a nearby theater. There, the moment became something of a humorous one for the Sausage Party star. Robinson and others were sent to the Metro Credit Union Amphitheater, which is next door to the comedy club. And it just so happened that the band Big Time Rush was simultaneously playing a concert at that venue.
The stand-up star saw the humor in being taken to see Carlos PenaVega‘s boy band perform in order to avoid a mass shooting. As he walked away from the comedy club under police order, Robinson explained how his night had changed:
“Again, there’s an active shooter at the club I was at. Big Time Rush to the rescue.”
Well, at least that lightened the mood a bit. Hopefully he enjoyed the show, considering the context.
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Here is Robinson’s video streaming his Saturday night evacuation from The Comedy Zone (below):
Here is more on the shooting, from Queen City News (below):
So scary!!
On Sunday, Robinson reflected further on what could have been an extremely tragic situation. Taking to Instagram once again, the stand-up star shared a nice message thanking first responders in Charlotte:
“Thank you to the Comedy Zone security and staff for getting us to safety quickly. Thank you everyone for your outpouring of support and well wishes. Thank you CMPD for swift action in apprehending the shooter. Hopefully he gets the help he needs. Thanks be to God no one was hurt. Please stay safe everyone.”
Here is that full statement, released early on Sunday afternoon to his nearly 300,000 followers:
Wow.
Again, we are so glad that nobody was injured. That situation obviously could have turned out very differently…
[Image via Queen City News/YouTube/MEGA/WENN]
