Los Angeles mourned the death of beloved Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele on Monday morning, as police announced the arrest of their son on suspicion of murder.

News of the apparent homicide of the film-maker behind When Harry Met Sally, Misery, Stand By Me, The Princess Bride and This is Spinal Tap sent shockwaves across LA, from the wealthy Brentwood neighborhood where he and his wife were found dead, to Hollywood Boulevard.

At Rob Reiner’s Walk of Fame star in the heart of Hollywood, some fans stopped by to pay tribute.

“This is something I can do with my grief and to honor everything he accomplished and everything he meant to my generation, and other generations,” said Stephanie Bower, a longtime history professor, who lives a 15-minute bus drive away from Reiner’s star on Hollywood Boulevard.

Bower, who dropped off a pink bouquet, said the news hit her hard. “I couldn’t sleep well last night … I’m thinking about the causes he stood for. It’s hard for younger people to know what it was like when All in the Family came on,” she said, referencing the groundbreaking 1970s sitcom Reiner starred in. “It was such a breakthrough in addressing issues. It was courageous.”

Reiner’s film, Stand by Me, was also one of her favorites, Bower said: “It was such a simple story and so deftly made. It really captured boyhood.”

Bower said she was moved to learn Reiner met his wife on the set of When Harry Met Sally, and that falling in love with her inspired him to change the ending of the film. She said it was hard to process that his son was arrested for apparent homicide. “It’s such a tragedy, and it’s not a tragedy that is isolated … It’s not a tragedy of one family, alone.”

Robert Morgan, who drives a Hollywood sightseeing tour bus, pulled over early Monday morning to take a picture of Reiner’s Walk of Fame star.

“It hurts, it really, really hurts as a parent,” said Morgan, who had tears in his eyes. He said he had been talking to his daughter on the phone about the news and was horrified that a family tragedy could end in this kind of violence. “What could make a kid feel that way? It’s heartbreaking. You raise your kids with love, you put your all into it, how could this happen?

Fans also paid tribute to Reiner’s long history of activism. Reiner fought for marriage equality in California, co-founding a group that funded the legal challenge to Proposition 8, a ballot measure to revoke gay marriage. He recently had been outspoken against Donald Trump, who insulted the director in a social media post on Monday marking his death.

Ace Smith, a veteran Democratic strategist who has worked with the former vice-president, Kamala Harris, told the Los Angeles Times that Reiner was a “unique human being who really did make the leap between entertainment and politics.

“He really spent the time to understand policy, really, in its true depth, and to make a huge impact in California,” Smith told the newspaper.

Alana Brown, a visitor from Detroit who walked by Reiner’s star on Hollywood boulevard, said she was grateful for Reiner’s activism and willingness to use his voice. “It’s nice to have a white, wealthy, well-known person who is willing to speak out against Trump’s politics. It’s so important to have allies like that. We need as many as we can.”

Brown said she was also reflecting on Reiner’s long legacy in film, including his acting roles in All in the Family and the 2013 film, Wolf of Wall Street. “Looking at his body of work, his range was just incredible,” she said.

Michele Reiner was a photographer who worked on some of her husband’s films over the years, serving as a producer on his film, Spinal Tap II: The End Continues, released earlier this year. She and her husband started an initiative called I Am Your Child in the 1990s to raise awareness about early childhood development.

Beau Hoffman, a director of visual media who stopped by Reiner’s Walk of Fame star to take a photo, said Misery, Reiner’s 1990 Stephen King adaptation starring Kathy Bates, was one of his favorites. “He represents stamina, adaptability, diversity of genre,” said Hoffman, noting the wide range of films across Reiner’s long career. “He used his platform to share joy, to share humor.”

Hoffman said he was moved to see Reiner appear at a “No Kings” anti-Trump protest in Santa Monica earlier this year, where the director spoke out against the militarization of cities, saying in his speech: “We have to make sure that the election in 2026 is free and fair, because if it is, we will win … Democracy is at stake.”

Sandy Neades, a musician who also visited the Walk of Fame, said This is Spinal Tap was a “life-changing movie” for her and other musical artists. “I’m just stunned. By all accounts, he was such a great guy and that shows in his work. His legacy is to be a kind person. He really lifted people up, and he had integrity.”