Johnny Wactor’s ‘Heartbroken’ Co-Worker Shares Details of Fatal Shooting: ‘I Am His Voice Now’
Just days after the death of General Hospital actor Johnny Wactor, his co-worker has shared firsthand details of the “horrifying” incident that led to his passing.
In a lengthy Instagram post on Wednesday, Anita Joy — who bartended with Wactor at the Los Angeles restaurant Level 8 — shared that “I have a responsibility to Johnny” to explain what happened on the night he died, and thus recounted her memories of May 25.
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As reported on Tuesday (via witness statements obtained by the LAPD’s Homicide Bureau), Wactor ended his bartending shift and was confronted by three individuals who had Wactor’s vehicle raised up with a floor jack and were in the process of stealing the catalytic converter. Per Joy’s account, she and Wactor “cautiously approached the men, questioning what they were doing, at first thinking the car was being towed. We were no threat and 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.”
She then recalled one of the individuals shooting Wactor, at which point Wactor “forcefully tumbled” into Joy’s arms as she screamed for help. A Level 8 security guard named Bryan called 911, and while they waited for paramedics to arrive, “we tied my denim jacket around him to stop the bleeding and Bryan proceeded to try CPR on him,” she wrote. “I’m so thankful for Bryan showing up, trying with all his might to save Johnny. It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive it but my god, he fought to stay.”
Alongside photos and video of her and Wactor’s tenure at Level 8, Joy went on to describe the actor as “absolutely one of the best men I’ve ever known.”
“I am his voice now because otherwise he would have possibly been alone and he wasn’t,” she wrote. “I am utterly heartbroken and so very angry. My only peace is that I was with him and this didn’t happen to him alone — my only other peace will be seeing these awful men brought to justice.”
Per People, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner has determined that Wactor died from a gunshot wound to the chest, and his death is considered a homicide. The actor made his daytime debut in 2020, portraying Brando Corbin on ABC‘s General Hospital for more than 100 episodes.
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