The grieving mother of “General Hospital” star Johnny Wactor slammed his “evil” killers Tuesday — while calling her slain son a “hero” for shielding a female co-worker from the gunman.

“This person is evil,” Scarlett Wactor told the “Today” show of the gunman who shot her son dead just for his car’s catalytic converter.

“I think they are cowards. As a parent, you never expect to bury a child,” said the mom, who has been rewatching her favorite episodes of her son’s soap ever since his murder early Saturday.

The 37-year-old actor was leaving a bartending job with a female co-worker when he came across three thieves attempting to swipe a catalytic converter from his car around 3:30 a.m. in downtown Los Angeles.

“Johnny thought that he was being towed,” his mother recalled.

“He said, ‘Hey man, you’re towing my car.’ And when the person looked up, they had on a mask. And Johnny stepped in front of the co-worker, and he was shot.”

Asked about her son’s last act being protecting his female friend, the grieving mom said: “I use the word ‘hero’ … I’m thankful that that person is OK — and that when he died, he wasn’t alone.”

The thieves – who police confirmed were all wearing masks – fled the scene in a separate vehicle. They had not been identified as of Tuesday.

No arrests have been made, and the LAPD is continuing to search for the suspects.

Johnny often picked up extra bartending shifts between acting gigs, and was working later than usual that night, his mom said

He left with three co-workers, with two of them heading off in a separate direction before Wactor and the woman he was walking with were confronted.

Wactor is best known for playing Brando Corbin in 164 episodes of the long-running soap opera “General Hospital” between 2020 and 2022, according to his IMDb profile. He was later written off the show.

He also appeared in the supernatural drama show “Siberia,” the drama “Army Wives” and an episode of “Criminal Minds.”

“The entire General Hospital family is heartbroken to hear of Johnny Wactor’s untimely passing. He was truly one of a kind and a pleasure to work with each and every day,” the ABC show wrote on X.

“Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loved ones during this difficult time.”

Thefts of catalytic converters, which can be resold on the black market for more than $1,000, have spiked across the country in recent years. They are vehicle exhaust devices that transform toxic gases into safer emissions, but contain valuable metals.