Ashley Johnson Recalls Armed Fan Tried to Abduct Her at 7 on 'Growing Pains' Set

Q: A studio was warned of a gunman. How was an attacker still able to grab a 7-year-old star?

He was able to grab Ashley Johnson because the set’s security was far looser than modern studio standards, even after a specific threat had been received. Johnson said that during her early “Growing Pains” years, cast members walked from their trailers straight past the live audience line on the way into the studio, sometimes within about five feet of spectators. There were no metal detectors, and audience members were close enough for direct physical contact. That meant an armed person could get into position simply by joining the line. The warning itself did not translate into the kind of lockdown that would now be expected. According to Johnson, production had received a written threat saying someone would come to the set with a gun and kill cast members, yet the basic access pattern remained unchanged. The suspect was still able to enter the audience area armed, break from the line, seize the 7-year-old actor as she walked with her mother, and try to run. Security did stop him quickly, tackling him before he could get away, and Johnson later learned he had a gun and appeared to be under the influence. But the breach had already happened. The episode underscores the central failure: the studio had warning, but not the screening, distance, and controlled movement needed to keep an armed stranger from getting within arm’s reach of a child performer.

2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Jul 19

Ashley Johnson said an armed man grabbed her and tried to carry her away during a live taping of "Growing Pains" when she was 7.
A threat had already warned production that someone would bring a gun to the set and kill cast members, but Johnson said security was lax and actors still walked within five feet of audience members.
Johnson recalled the man breaking from the audience line as she walked with her mother, with security tackling him after he lifted her and started running.
She said she was too young to understand the danger at the time and only later learned the suspect was armed and apparently high.
The account, shared on the "Weird Kids" podcast, revisits a childhood incident from Johnson's early years on the ABC sitcom before her later career in "The Last of Us."