Family and friends of the late Johnny Wactor marched through Downtown Los Angeles Wednesday morning, calling for a reward for catching the “General Hospital” actor’s killer and for city leaders to clean up the crime.
Wactor, who played Brando Corbin on the ABC soap opera “General Hospital,” was murdered in downtown Los Angeles on May 25 by thieves who tried to steal his car’s catalytic converter.
As Wactor was wrapping up his bartending shift, he approached three suspects in the middle of the catalytic converter theft in a parking lot at Hope Street and Pico Boulevard.
One of them pulled out a gun and opened fire. Wactor, 37, was taken to hospital, where he later died.
Micah Parker, Wactor’s friend, said the purpose of Wednesday’s march is to raise awareness and shine a light on the incident because the killers are still at large.
“We want anyone with any information to come forward,” Parker said.
The group plans to gather at the scene of the shooting at 10 a.m. and march to City Hall, pushing city leaders to issue a reward of at least $25,000 for any information leading to the arrest of the individuals responsible for Wactor’s death.
“The second goal would be, because it’s twofold, to shine a light on the overall crisis that we have in Los Angeles with violence and crime,” Parker said.
“We want our city leaders, the mayor, the district attorney and the City Council to at least admit we have a problem so we can address it and move forward with safer streets.”
Wactor’s brother, Grant Wactor, was the first to publicly confirm his brother’s death. He said his eldest brother is irreplaceable and was a mentor to him and his other brother.
“He was a positive person, no matter what happened, he always made sure he found a way to – if you had a problem, he took time out of his day, even when he was having his worst day. He can help you figure out how to fix it…,” said Grant Wactor.
In addition to ‘General Hospital’, Wactor also starred in other television series such as ‘Westworld’, ‘Criminal Minds’, ‘The OA’ and ‘NCIS’.
Parker said Wactor turned bartending shifts to pursue his dream of acting. “Johnny wasn’t that guy you think of when you think ‘celebrity,’” Parker said. “He was down to earth, he was busy, no ego.”
Wactor is survived by his mother and two brothers.
