Johnny Wactor’s General Hospital Costar Carolyn Hennesy Says It's Been 'Somber' Since His Death (Exclusive)

Johnny Wactor’s death has left a dark cloud over the General Hospital set.

Speaking to PEOPLE at the Celebrating Aspiring Magazine Summer Edition event on Tuesday, June 4, his costar Carolyn Hennesy said it's been “somber on set” since the actor was fatally shot last month.

“It was a homicide, so that lays a special ugly overlay to his particular death, and it's been a little somber on set," Hennesy, 61, tells PEOPLE at the West Hollywood event.

The star went on to share that upon returning to work this week following a break, she has seen Wactor’s death only now sinking in among the cast and crew. 

“I think people have processed a bit,” Hennesy, who has starred as Diane Miller in the soap since 2006, continues. “We were dark last week, so people are processing in their own way. Also, I did not know him to the extent that I know a lot of other people. But any death, period, any death on the show, any death in my industry, I take it to heart.”

“We have a lot of lovely actors on the show, and when we lose one, it's a killer. It's just a killer," she adds.

Wactor played Brando Corbin on General Hospital from 2020 to 2022. The actor was fatally shot in the early hours of May 25 when he came upon three armed car thieves attempting to steal his catalytic converter from his vehicle after his bartending shift, his brother Grant Wactor previously told PEOPLE. He was 37. 

According to Grant, Wactor was walking with a female co-worker to their vehicles at around 3:25 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles when they came upon the thieves. He then stepped in front of his colleague to protect her and was shot.

“He did not confront them,” Grant said. “He did not try to stop them. He was just trying to diffuse the situation by stepping back. [The thieves] “weren't expecting anybody to walk up on them, so they got scared. And there's nothing more dangerous than a coward with a gun in his hand.”

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

After the shooting, the men fled the scene in a vehicle. 

The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner later determined Wactor’s cause of death to be a gunshot wound to the chest. His manner of death was listed as a homicide.