“General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor was shot and killed early Saturday after he encountered three men trying to steal a catalytic converter from his car, according to law enforcement officials familiar with the case.
Los Angeles Police Department spokesman Officer Judd Chavez said the incident occurred around 3:25 a.m. when the owner encountered three people who were stealing car parts near Pico Avenue and Hope Street. Chavez said the man was shot by a burglar and the three fled in another vehicle. The official did not identify the shooting victim but said he was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
A source confirmed to The Times on Sunday that the victim was Walker, who played Brando Corbin on “General Hospital” from 2020 to 2022. Characters including “Westworld,” “Criminal Minds” and “Station 19.”
Sources said Walkett spotted the masked men outside his car and confronted them. That’s when he was shot.
Walkett, 37, left General Hospital in 2022 when his popular character was removed from the show. At the time, he told Soap Opera Digest that he loved the show’s large and loyal fan base.
“This is new to me and it’s a blessing,” he said. “It’s fun to come to work and then get excited about seeing people react to the storylines you’re in. It’s really cool that they actually care.”
A catalytic converter is an exhaust emission control device usually installed in a vehicle’s chassis and contains precious metals such as rhodium, palladium and platinum. Thieves can make hundreds of dollars by selling them to auto parts suppliers or scrap yards, where they are melted down and the valuable metal extracted.
