'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor shot dead during attempted car theft

Los Angeles: 'General Hospital' actor Johnny Wactor has been shot dead in Los Angeles by a thief who was trying to steal a part from his car, media reports said.

The 37-year-old American actor, who also featured in HBO's 'Westworld' suffered fatal injuries after interrupting three men who were attempting to remove the catalytic converter from his parked vehicle, a BBC report said.

Wactor was pronounced dead early Saturday, his agent David Shaul told Variety.

Wactor's mother Scarlett told NBC4 her son was returning to his car after work and discovered a man tampering with it. Believing it was being towed and not suspecting danger, he approached the man to ask what was happening, then was immediately shot, she said.

She told Variety, the suspect fled with two other men, and described her son's killing as "senseless".

A tribute shared by producers at General Hospital said South Carolina-born Wactor was "truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day".