Johnny Wactor murder update: Cops to arrest gang members for General Hospital star's shooting death
Police have made multiple arrests and issued search warrants linked to the shooting death of General Hospital star Johnny Wactor.
The 37-year-old actor is believed to have been gunned down by thieves attempting to steal the catalytic convertor on his vehicle in Downtown Los Angeles on May 25.
Nearly three months later, the Los Angeles Police Department has identified members of the Florencia 13 gang in connection with his murder, per TMZ.
The outlet said fingerprints found at the scene helped to link suspects to the case.
The LAPD previously released two images of the suspects and their getaway car while appealing to the public for help identifying them.
Johnny Wactor is believed to have been shot and killed on May 25 by thieves attempting to steal the catalytic convertor on his vehicle in downtown Los Angeles
Los Angeles Police Department previously released two images of the suspects and their getaway car (pictured above) while appealing to the public for help identifying them
On Saturday, May 25 at around 3:25am, Wactor had been leaving his side job at a 'cathedral style' nightclub called Sinners y Santos in a notoriously crime-ridden part of Downtown LA with his co-worker, Anita Joy.
They had been walking to their cars when they noticed three masked men near Wactor's vehicle, which was propped up on a jack.
As they neared the men, the suspects opened fire. One bullet struck Wactor in the chest.
The actor was transported by paramedics to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
According to police, the three men fled the scene in another vehicle.
Wactor died a hero - with his relatives previously telling DailyMail.com he had positioned himself to shield Joy from the gunfire.
In a series of Instagram posts recalling his courageous final moments, Joy referred to Wactor as her friend of 'eight years' and described how he 'fought to stay alive' before dying in her arms.
Anita Joy, who was with Johnny Wactor when he was killed, posted this photo of the pair on her Instagram story on Wednesday night
Joy has described her anger at Wactor's death but is grateful that he did not die alone
Johnny Wactor's cause of death has been revealed after actor was shot and killed on Saturday, May 25 by thieves attempting to steal the catalytic convertor on his vehicle in Downtown Los Angeles
'Everything happened in an instant,' Joy wrote. '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.
'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!" We toppled onto the street, where I pushed my legs under him and tried to hold his body up while screaming for help and screaming at him to stay with me.'
Joy went on to say that a bouncer from the bar where they worked ran over and performed CPR - but it was too late.
'It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive it. But my God, he fought to stay,' she wrote.
Joy also revealed staff at the Downtown LA nightclub complained about a lack of safe parking spots for late-night workers after a string of violent incidents in the area.
'It was too close range, too extreme of a wound for him to survive it. But my God, he fought to stay,' Joy said of the gunshot wound that killed Wactor (pictured)
Pictured: Wactor on the set of General Hospital
The LAPD previously released two images of the suspects and their getaway car while appealing to the public for help identifying them.
'Suspect One has a tattoo above the left eye and on the right cheek,' cops wrote in a community alert early August, noting that the same suspect pulled the trigger on the shot that killed Wactor.
'Suspect One to Three fled the area in a suspect vehicle, identified as a stolen 2018, black, 4 door, Infiniti Q50, with tan interior.'
In the months before he died, the actor had taken up a job bartending to make ends meet, despite having battled a drinking problem. The nightclub was just a few blocks away from where he was gunned down.
Wactor appeared in 164 General Hospital episodes, starring as Brando Corbin.
His remains were sent to his home state of South Carolina, where he was cremated, with his ashes now with his mother, Scarlett, at her home.
Exclusive DailyMail.com photos also show the desolate spot where the star lost his life, with a tattered piece of police tape still lingering on a heavily graffitied shop front nearby
Johnny Wactor (left) pictured with his family, who are now preparing to bring his body to South Carolina, where they will mourn him
Back in June, Wactor's friend Micah Parker called on LA County District Attorney George Gascón to push for the maximum sentence for the killers and for city officials to 'do their jobs.'
'It's the place to be because the city and the city's leaders need to understand what soft-on-crime policies leads to,' Parker said, while standing in front of the spot where Wactor was gunned down on the 1200 block of Hope Street.
'It leads us to right here. It's important to us that this story remains top of mind for his family, for his friends because we loved him and he deserves justice.'
Gascón did not attend the rally, but his chief deputy, Joseph Iniguez, at the time told participants he could not discuss how the case would be handled prior to any arrests being made.
Wactor's former fiancée, Teresa Farrell, appealed for help finding his killers.
'If the person who did this, if you're watching, I'm sorry, but you shot the wrong guy,' she said in a post to Instagram through a steady stream of tears.
'You can get a real job,' she went on. 'I know the job market's hard but we're all in it together. You don't have to steal - especially take a life over it.'
She went on to assert that 'human life is disregarded too easy,' while insisting it is time to 'make changes.'
'Maybe that's what Johnny's gift is for us,' she said, urging politicians to take notice.
She said she met Wactor back in 2013 soon after she moved to LA, when he was working his way into the business.
Violent crime in Los Angeles has risen by 2.9 percent this year so far compared with 2023, with thefts up 9.5 percent.
