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Family and friends of late actor Johnny Wactor march in downtown Los Angeles

Family and friends of late actor Johnny Wactor march in downtown Los Angeles
Family and friends of late actor Johnny Wactor march in downtown Los Angeles 02:48

Family and friends of the late Johnny Wactor marched in downtown Los Angeles Wednesday morning, calling for a reward to catch the killer of the "General Hospital" actor and for city leaders to clean up crime.

Wactor, 37, who played Brando Corbin on the ABC daytime soap opera "General Hospital," was killed in downtown Los Angeles on May 25 by thieves attempting to steal his car's catalytic converter.

As Wactor was finishing a bartending shift, he approached three suspects who were in the middle of a catalytic converter theft of his car at Hope Street and Pico Boulevard.

One of them drew a gun and opened fire. Wactor was transported to the hospital where he later died. 

Wactor's friend, Micah Parker, said the goal of Wednesday's march is to raise awareness and shine a light on the incident because suspects have not yet been apprehended.

"We want anyone with any information to come forward," Parker said.

The group gathered near the shooting scene at 10 a.m. and marched to City Hall, pleading for city leaders to issue a minimum $25,000 reward for any information leading to the arrest of the individuals responsible for Wactor's death.

"The second goal would be, because it's two-fold, is just to shine the light on this overall crisis that we are having in Los Angeles, with violence, with crime," Parker said.

"We want our city leaders, the mayor, the [district attorney], city council to at least admit that we have a problem so that we can address it and move forward with safer streets."

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Family and friends marched downtown Los Angeles to call on city leaders to address crime and to issue a $25,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of Johnny Wactor's killers.  KCALNews

Grant Wactor said Johnny, his oldest brother, is irreplaceable and was a mentor to him and his other brother.

"He was a positive person that no matter what, he always made sure that he found a way to — if you had a problem, he would take time out of his day even if he was having his worst day, he was making sure he can help you figure out how to solve it," Grant Wactor said.

Apart from "General Hospital," Wactor also appeared in other television series including "Westworld," "Criminal Minds," "The OA" and "NCIS."

Parker said Wactor was working bartending shifts to continue pursuing acting. 

"Johnny was not that guy, what you think of when you think 'celebrity,'"  Parker said. "He was down-to-earth, he was hustling, no ego."

Wactor is survived by his mother and two brothers.

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