‘General Hospital’ Actor Johnny Wactor’s Cause of Death Released by Coroner

The death of General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor has officially been ruled a homicide.

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s office released its findings on the department’s website Wednesday, May 29.

The report said the actor, born John Williams Wactor, died from a gunshot wound to the chest. His place of death was listed as a hospital.

Wactor, 37, was fatally shot around 3:25 a.m. on Saturday, May 25.

Related Story: Thieves Had Actor Johnny Wactor’s Car Raised on Jack Before Fatal Shooting, LAPD Says

The actor played “Brando Corbin” on General Hospital from 2020 to 2022. He also had roles on the television series Siberia, The OA, Westworld, Criminal Minds and Station 19.

Wactor would pick up work as a bartender between acting jobs, his family said. He had just finished a bartending shift when he was killed in the 1200 block of Hope Street, in downtown L.A.

The actor’s family members said he was walking a female co-worker to her car after their shift, when he noticed a man standing near his vehicle.

“Johnny thought that he was being towed,” his mother Scarlett Wactor told the Today show. “He said, ‘Hey man, you’re towing my car.’ When the person looked up, he had on a mask. Johnny stepped in front of the co-worker and he was shot.”

Johnny’s mother called him a “hero” for protecting his co-worker. “I’m thankful that that person is okay and that when he died, he was not alone,” Scarlett said.

The actor was driving a Toyota Prius, according to his family.

Carfax reports the Prius is one of the five vehicle models that catalytic converter thieves target most often because of precious metals inside the converters.

In a statement, the LAPD said three suspects “had Wactor’s vehicle raised up with a floor jack and were in the process of stealing the catalytic converter.”

Paramedics transported the actor to an area hospital, where he was pronounced deceased.

The three suspects got away. The LAPD has issued an appeal to the public for help finding the men.