Family and friends of actor Johnny Wactor urge more action to find his killers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Family and friends of actor Johnny Wactor called for action Tuesday from the public and officials to help find and convict his killers.

The former “General Hospital” actor was shot on May 25 when he interrupted thieves stealing the catalytic converter from his car in downtown Los Angeles, authorities said. No arrests have yet been made.

“I’m asking that anybody that knows anything please come forward,” the actor's mother, Scarlett Wactor of South Carolina, said at a news conference outside Los Angeles City Hall. “It will help me and his brothers in our healing to know that they’ve been captured and convicted.”

Police made their own plea for public help on Aug. 5 when they released surveillance images of three unidentified suspects and their getaway car — a stolen 2018 black Infiniti Q50.

Johnny Wactor was born in Charleston, South Carolina, and grew up in the nearby town of Summerville. He portrayed Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital” from 2020 to 2022. He also appeared in films and TV series including “Station 19,” “NCIS” and “Westworld.”

Scarlett Wactor said previously that her son had left work at a rooftop bar with a coworker when he saw someone at his car and thought it was being towed. A mask-wearing suspect opened fire, his mother said.

“Grief is my constant companion," she said Tuesday. “I can’t wish him happy birthday on Aug. 31 — he would have been 38. I can’t ask if he’s coming home for Christmas. I can’t ask how his day went.”

Others at the news conference called for more action from Mayor Karen Bass and other leaders to combat crime.

“We will make sure that no family has to endure the pain that Scarlett is enduring today,” City Councilman Kevin de León said. “We want justice for Johnny and we shall have it.”