4 men in custody

Arrest after shooting death of Johnny Wactor

Four suspects were arrested following the shooting death of "General Hospital" star Johnny Wactor.(Bild: APA/Willy Sanjuan/Invision/AP)

Police in Los Angeles have arrested four suspects almost three months after the killing of "General Hospital" star Johnny Wactor. Three men aged 18 are in custody on charges of murder and a 22-year-old on charges of accessory after the fact, the authorities announced.

The Los Angeles Times reported that the police investigation had focused on gang members associated with the theft of catalytic converters. The offense of murder in US law often corresponds to manslaughter under German law.

Thieves shot at actor
Wactor was killed by a gunshot in a night-time incident on a street in Los Angeles at the end of May. According to the police, the 37-year-old had surprised three men who were tampering with his parked vehicle at the end of his shift in a bar. According to the report, the thieves tried to steal the vehicle's catalytic converter.

One of the men shot at Wactor and they then fled. The actor was later pronounced dead in hospital.

The theft of catalytic converters has increased significantly during the coronavirus pandemic, wrote the Los Angeles Times. Expensive precious metals such as platinum, palladium and rhodium are used in exhaust gas purifiers.

Role in "General Hospital"
Wactor played the role of Brando Corbin in "General Hospital" from 2020 to 2022 in around 200 episodes of the long-running soap opera. The actor from Charleston, California, also appeared in other series such as "Westworld", "Criminal Minds" and "Station 19".