Tammin Sursok on 'hysterical' panic during school shooting: 'Scary'

Former Home and Away star Tammin Sursok is currently based in Nashville, USA, but she will be moving back to Australia sooner than planned. The star, 39, was horrified when her daughter’s school went into lockdown after an active shooter caused chaos at the Christian school next door.

On March 27, a former student of The Covenant School opened fire, killing three nine-year-old children and three adults. Tammin’s daughter Phoenix, also 9, ended up being safe as the shooter didn’t go to her school, but the star remembers being panicked when she received the phone call.

“I thought it was her school, I was hysterical,” she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “You don’t expect for it to happen to you, but then you do…because it’s everywhere.”

She adds that going through the fear of having her daughter stuck in that situation really struck a chord, and has pushed her to use her platform to advocate for gun safety in America.

In fact, when we spoke to Tammin, she had attended six protests about gun safety that week alone. Previously, she has been too “afraid” of voicing her opinion on such a divisive subject as a figure in the public eye, because of backlash that would have come her way.

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However, after experiencing the terrifying moment firsthand, she has been regularly posting images from protests along with captions tackling the subject on Instagram.

“I used to be really afraid to say anything on all my platforms just because I couldn’t be bothered with the hate and visceral reactions people have,” she explains. “People think that gun rallies or the anti-gun rallies are…saying ban guns. That’s not the case.”

Tammin is fighting for “smart and safe gun reform”, pointing out flaws in the American system, calling for mental health checks, making permits mandatory in all states and more.

She says the entire experience has made her “angrier” than ever, and is hoping that it helps spur others into action.

“Hopefully people like me who didn’t use to advocate for gun safety because they felt like their voices wouldn’t be heard, I hope they’re feeling the same way. I hope they’re all stepping up. I know a lot of my friends have met me [at protests] and they’ve never done it before as well,” she tells us.

“It’s scary and also sad that I didn’t even know all the things that are going on.”

Tammin’s move to Australia

While the actress has carved a name out for herself in Hollywood, with her biggest role as mysterious teen Jenna Marshall in Pretty Little Liars, she always planned on coming back to Australia in the future.

However, the star’s plans have been fast-tracked after the Nashville shooting.

Tammin shares two daughters with her husband Sean McEwan, and alongside their oldest daughter Phoenix, the couple also have a four-year-old daughter called Lennon. The couple had planned to move back to Australia in three years, but they are planning to head back two years ahead of schedule.

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The Neighbours star says she is constantly receiving messages from fans telling her to move back now, but explains there’s more work for the couple in America.

“There’s a balance between providing and protecting, and you have to be able to find both,” she elaborates. “I can protect my children better in Australia and I can provide for them better in the US. So it’s trying to find a balance where you can do both.”

She’s open to splitting her time between her two homes and floats the idea of homeschooling her kids while they’re outside of Australia.

“We’re gonna try to figure it out. I know it’s doable, it’s just never easy,” she muses.

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