‘General Hospital’ actor Johnny Wactor’s close friend has recalled the harrowing moment she realized she was drenched in his blood after he was senselessly gunned down by a trio of masked, would-be car thieves in Los Angeles last weekend.
Speaking to ABC’s ‘Good Morning America’ on Friday, Joy described her shock after the gunshots rang out — and how she cradled a dying Wactor in her arms as she screamed for help.
‘General Hospital’ actor Johnny Wactor’s close friend, Anita Joy, has recalled the harrowing moment she realized she was drenched in his blood after he was shot in LA last Sunday. Anita Joy / Instagram“I didn’t see the wound yet, I could feel the blood, I had blood on my hands. So I ripped his shirt open and he had a shot right to his chest,” Joy recalled.
“I was just screaming at him, trying to tell him to stay with me and that I love him and, you know, don’t go. It’s just all that could come out of me at that moment.”
“This felt completely helpless. Like there’s nothing in my knowledge that I could have done aside from like, trying to give him support,” she added.
Wactor, 37, took a fatal bullet to the chest after he and his bar co-worker friend, Anita Joy, approached three suspects who were trying to swipe a catalytic converter from his car in downtown LA in the early hours of Sunday.
Anita Joy described her shock after the gunshots rang out — and how she cradled a dying Wactor in her arms as she screamed for help. X/GMAThe pair had just left their bartending shift at about 3:30 am and were walking to their cars when cops say they witnessed the suspects fiddling with Wactor’s vehicle.
“A man is down like on his knees putting a jack under the car and he had the car halfway jacked up and then we realize this is not two people,” Joy said. “He had a ski mask on so we were just suddenly like, ‘Oh no, you know, this is bad.'”
Johnny Wactor shielded Joy as they approached the car. Anita Joy / InstagramJoy said Wactor shielded her from the perps as he cautiously approached them, but the gunman immediately opened fire at close range.
“He approached the man just like one step forward and I hear a loud crack,” Joy said. “He just came flying backwards towards me.”
Wactor, 37, took a fatal bullet to the chest in downtown LA last Sunday. Anita Joy / InstagramThe bar’s security guard called 911 and rushed over after hearing Joy’s screams for help.
The suspects, who fled in a dark sedan, are still on the run.
“I hope that they’re terrified and I hope that somehow we find them,” Joy said of the perps.
“They didn’t even get the catalytic converter, that’s what they were going for. They left with Johnny’s life instead.”
