(Molly Bruns, Headline USA) Johnny Wactor, who played Brando Corbin in the popular soap opera General Hospital, died early Saturday morning after interrupting thieves attempting to steal a part of his car, according to the New York Post.
The thieves shot and killed Wactor, 37, after he exited a rooftop bar where he worked and caught two thieves trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car around 3:30 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles.
The police reported that Wactor thought the robbers were there to tow his car and attempted to speak to them.
The masked bandits looked up at him, and it became evident what was really happening. They shot him and fled the scene. Wactor died of his injuries at the hospital.
Several reports indicated that he protected a female coworker from the attack.
Wactor starred in over 150 episodes of General Hospital between 2020 and 2022. He also made appearances in Westworld, Station 19 and The OA.
“Johnny was the absolute best,” his General Hospital co-star Sofia Mattsson said in a post on Instagram. “So genuine. So caring. Incredibly hard working and humble. With a huge heart that spread so much kindness and joy. He always made sure everyone around him felt seen, heard and loved.”
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Wactor’s ex-fiancée, Tessa Farrell, posted a teary video to TikTok advocating for policies to help remove violent criminals from the streets.
“This can’t keep happening. So many lives are being lost…” she said. “We need some legislation to prevent this from happening. These criminals can’t keep being on the street and they can’t keep being sent back and have no repercussions for their actions.”
Johnny Wactor’s former fiancée broke down in tears over the “General Hospital” actor’s death, slamming the gunmen for shooting “the wrong guy.” https://t.co/DYsp6MrNtr pic.twitter.com/CNVy9C2JVn
— New York Post (@nypost) May 28, 2024
Theft of catalytic converters spiked in recent years. The part has a black market price of about $1,000, because it contains valuable metals.
Instead of pouring resources and funding into police departments in an attempt to slow the rising crime wave, many blue states opted instead to sue car manufacturers, such as Kia and Hyundai, for making their vehicles too easy to steal.
According to the data from National Insurance Crime Bureau, car theft rates started to increase every month since June 2020—the beginning of George Floyd-inspired race riots, which lasted several months in the leadup to the November 2020 election.
