Police: “General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor killed in catalytic converter theft

“General Hospital” actor Johnny Wactor was shot and killed early Saturday morning when he encountered three men trying to steal the catalytic converter from his car, according to a law enforcement source familiar with the case.

The incident occurred at 3:25 a.m. when the owner of a vehicle encountered three people near Pico Boulevard and Hope Street, said Officer Jader Chaves, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Police Department. One of the thieves shot him before all three fled in a vehicle, Chaves said. The owner of the car, whose identity Chaves did not release, was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

A source confirmed to The Times that the victim was Wactor, who played Brando Corbin on “General Hospital” from 2020 to 2022. He has also had roles on other series, including “Westworld,” “Criminal Minds” and “Station 19.”

The source said Wactor spotted the masked men outside his car and confronted them, and was shot.

Wactor, 37, left General Hospital in 2022 when his popular character was killed off. At the time, he told Soap Opera Digest that he was happy with the show’s large and loyal fan base.

“This was all new to me and it was a blessing,” he said. “It was fun to go to work and then be excited to see people react to the storylines you were in. That they really cared was really cool.”

The catalytic converter, an emissions control device typically located in the underbody of a vehicle, contains precious metals such as rhodium, palladium and platinum. Thieves can make hundreds of dollars by selling them to auto parts suppliers or junkyards, where they can be melted down and the valuable metals extracted.