Johnny Wactor as Brando Corbin on General Hospital. (Screenshot: ABC)
An actor who appeared on 164 episodes of the soap opera General Hospital was reportedly shot and killed early Saturday when encountering thieves stealing a part of his car. Officers with the Los Angeles Police Department in California did not identify the victim, but family confirmed his death in reports.
“My mother is tough as nails, but she’s broken down to the bone,” Johnny Wactor’s brother, Grant, told The Los Angeles Times.
The incident happened Saturday at around 3:25 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles near Pico Boulevard and Hope Street, police reportedly said. A law enforcement source told the outlet Wactor had come across three men attempting to steal the catalytic converter from his car.
Catalytic converters are a common target for theft because of the rare metals inside.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson Officer Jader Chaves, who did not identify Wactor, reportedly said one of the men shot the victim. The three suspects then fled in a vehicle, the officer said.
Wactor, who left General Hospital in 2022, had been working as a bartender the night of his death and was walking a coworker to her car after their shift, his brother told the Times. He thought he was being towed, and he confronted them, his brother said.
“It’s just a shame,” Grant Wactor said. “It seems like it was just the wrong place, wrong time.”
Johnny Wactor, who left his home state of South Carolina for Los Angeles after graduating from college in 2009, also appeared in shows like Westworld and the video game Call of Duty: Vanguard.
“Johnny Wactor was a spectacular human being. Not just a talented actor who was committed to his craft but a real moral example to everyone who knew him. Standing for hard work, tenacity and a never give up attitude,” his agent, David Shaul, said in a statement obtained by Variety.
“In the highs and lows of a challenging profession he always kept his chin up and kept striving for the best he could be,” the statement continued. “Our time with Johnny was a privilege we would wish on everyone. He would literally give you the shirt off his back. After over a decade together, he will leave a hole in our hearts forever.”
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