“General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor died while shielding a female co-worker from the armed robbers who shot him dead just for a catalytic converter.
Wactor, 37, was walking the unidentified friend to her own car when he came across the three thieves who’d jacked up his car at around 3:25 a.m. Saturday, his brother Grant told the Daily Mail.
“We’re Southern, born and raised, and we would never let a female walk to their car by herself,” the grieving brother said.
“He came across them and he thought his truck was being towed. So he said something to the guys, like, ‘Hey, are you towing?’
“And then once he turned around, he saw what was happening and he put his coworker behind him. And that’s when they shot him.”
The actor was backing away and attempting to protect his co-worker when the men opened fire, Grant said, citing the Los Angeles Police Department’s assessment of the scene.
The thieves – who police say were all wearing masks – fled the scene in a separate vehicle. They had not been identified as of Monday morning.
“We are completely devastated,” Wactor’s grandmother, Barbara, told The Daily Mail. “He was just walking to his car. It’s senseless.”
The actor’s mom, Scarlett Wactor, also told NBC News how her son has stepped in front fo the co-worker to protect her, calling him “a light in a dark room.”
“There is a huge hole in all of us, and there is no fixing that,” she said.
Johnny often picked up extra bartending shifts between acting gigs, and was working later than usual that night, his mom said. He left with three co-workers, with two of them heading off in a separate direction before Wactor and the woman he was walking with were confronted.
