An actor for the long-running show General Hospital was fatally shot in the early morning hours of May 25 after he stumbled upon thieves who were attempting to steal his catalytic convertor.
Johnny Wactor, the actor, was with his co-worker Anita Joy when he was shot after their bartending shift in Downtown Los Angeles. Joy had been walking with Wactor at Level 8 before the incident and was with Wactor when he died.
In a lengthy Instagram post made on Wednesday, May 29, Joy wrote that she had “needed to take some time to collect [herself] and [her] thoughts” before posting.
“I was with Johnny in his last moments and I’m here to be his voice after such unimaginable events,” Joy wrote. “He was killed senselessly by a coward who reacted without care of the gorgeous life he was taking. So I’m angry, I’m sad and I’m all of the feelings at once… but above all, I am here for Johnny’s justice.”
She added that the “basic details of the horrific story” came down “to a few criminals trying to steal a car part.”
“Everything happened in an instant,” she went on to write. “I’ve come to describe it as a glass of water that gets tipped over and you’re scrambling to grab it and save it from spilling out completely but it just runs through your fingertips and is gone.”
Joy explained that the pair had “cautiously approached the men” to question what they were doing,” as they initially thought the car was being towed.
“Johnny kept his cool as he always did, simply stating that it was his car and for them to leave. Hands open to his sides in peace,” Joy wrote. “Johnny was between me and the man who shot him – as I heard the shot ring into the night, he forcefully tumbled back into my arms, and as I grabbed for him, I shouted, ‘Hunny, you ok?!’
And he only responded, ‘Nope! Shot!'”
Joy stated that Wactor had “toppled onto the street,” and that she had “pushed her legs under him and tried to hold his body up while screaming for help” and for him to “stay with [her].”
She added that a security guard named Bryan, who worked at the club they were bartending at, came by and called emergency services before trying to perform CPR on the actor. Joy added that she had tied her denim jacket around her friend to try to stop the bleeding but that the wound was “too extreme for him to survive it.”
“But by God, he fought to stay,” she wrote.
In the post’s caption featuring a photo of the two together, Joy said that Wactor “lit up any room,” and added, “No matter how well you knew him, he treated everyone like he truly cared about you.”
Wactor, known for his General Hospital role as Brando Corbin, had also appeared in Army Wives, NCIS, The OA, Westworld, Station 19, Agent X, Animal Kingdom, Criminal Minds, and other shows.
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner determined that the actor died from a gunshot wound to the chest and that his manner of death is listed as a homicide.
A GoFundMe was set up to help his family with funeral and travel expenses. As of the morning of June 1, it has raised over $100,000.
