Step by Step 's Christine Lakin on Onscreen Brother's Exit from Hollywood After 'Traumatic' Driveby Shooting

Dory Jackson
·2 min read
Christine Lakin attends the Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center's "Eternal Beauty" celebration on September 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.
Christine Lakin attends the Beverly Hills Rejuvenation Center's "Eternal Beauty" celebration on September 26, 2019 in Los Angeles, California.

Paul Archuleta/Getty

Christine Lakin is reflecting on a scary moment that rocked the Step by Step cast.

During an appearance on the Pod Meets World podcast, the 43-year-old actress opened up about her time working on the iconic ABC sitcom, where she played Alicia "Al" Lambert. But not all her memories from that time were rosy, as her TV brother Brandon Call had a life-threatening experience off screen.

Call, now 45, was involved in a scary driveby shooting after filming an episode of the series in September 1996. The actor was shot in both arms by a man named Tommy Eugene Lewis, and was later transported to the UCLA Medical Center to be treated.

"Brandon always had fancy cars. That was his thing," she began. "One night, he was driving home, he got in some kind of altercation with someone on the road. Some kind of road rage altercation. He and this other person were, like, kind of racing on the road."

"Brandon thought he got away from this guy and turned into a neighborhood, and it ended up being a dead end," she continued. "When he turned around in the cul de sac, the person was waiting for him. So, he just drove really fast, as fast as he could pass him. He kind of put his head down ... and the guy shot him, like, six times."

RELATED: 5-Year-Old Girl 'Full of Love and Laughter' Shot to Death in Houston Drive-By Shooting

According to Lakin, Call "drove to a police station and basically got out of the car, and passed out on the steps."

Call was "really lucky that he survived that," she added.

STEP BY STEP - "Beyond Therapy" - Airdate: November 11, 1994.
STEP BY STEP - "Beyond Therapy" - Airdate: November 11, 1994.

ABC Photo Archives/Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty

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Call played John Thomas "J.T." Lambert on Step by Step, which aired on ABC from 1991 to 1997. The beloved sitcom followed two single parents (Patrick Duffy and Suzanne Somers) who wed and form a blended family with their many children.

Staci Keanan, Angela Watson, Patrika Darbo, Christopher Castile, Josh Byrne, Peggy Rea, Sasha Mitchell, Emily Mae Young, Jason Marsden and Bronson Pinchot also starred on the show.

Call retired from acting altogether when the show ended after seven seasons, and Lakin believes the shooting likely contributed to his departure from Hollywood.

"That will change you as a person, a traumatic event like that," she said. "I feel like he just really had no interest in being in the spotlight anymore."

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