Wactor died Saturday after being shot when he interrupted three male suspects who were allegedly attempting to remove a catalytic converter from his vehicle around 3:25 a.m. PT, according to the Los Angeles Police Department. Authorities say the suspects fled the scene, and Wactor was transported to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead at the age of 37.
"They took a wonderful person," Wactor's mother, Scarlett, told "Good Morning America."
Wactor, who was leaving his bartending shift in downtown Los Angeles and walking to his car with a female co-worker, noticed his car jacked up and approached the men believing they were towing his car, his mother said.
"Johnny immediately stepped in front of the co-worker and either put his hands up or backed up or both, and the person shot him right then," his mother said. "Point blank."
Wactor's mother remembered him as someone who "always was kind to people," and his brothers also mourned his death.
"One of the worst parts is just not being able to have a conversation with him again," his brother Lance said. "He's one of my best friends."
"Without him ... there's an emptiness that doesn't get filled," his brother Grant added.
Wactor, best known for playing Brando Corbin in more than 100 episodes of "General Hospital," also appeared on shows such as "NCIS" and "Station 19."
Authorities told ABC News that investigators are still processing evidence from the scene and are gathering surveillance video from the streets around the scene to see if video can help piece together the story of how this crime happened.
The LAPD has made no arrests and has no suspects at this time.