“ER” actress Vanessa Marquez was shot and killed by police Thursday after she pulled a BB gun on officers, Lt. Joe Mendoza of the South Pasadena Police Department confirmed to USA TODAY Friday.
Officers thought the weapon was a semi-automatic handgun.
The incident occurred during a welfare check to the 49-year-old’s apartment in South Pasadena, California.
When officers arrived around noon Thursday, they “noticed the female was having seizures” according to a press release received by USA TODAY Friday. Paramedics were called to assist.
“While speaking to her, officers became aware she was possibly suffering from mental health issues, became uncooperative, and appeared to be unable to care for herself,” the statement continued. “They continued to speak to her for over an hour and a half in an attempt to offer her medical care. She then armed herself with a handgun and pointed it at the officers, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred.”
Marquez was then transported to a hospital where she was pronounced dead. No officers were injured during the incident.
The officers were wearing body cameras but footage won’t be released for at least six months pending the investigation,.
Terence Towles Canote, a close friend of Marquez’s, told the Associated Press that the actress was having health and financial problems but that she showed no signs of depression or other mental troubles. She still talked about her dream of winning an Oscar one day and was hopeful for a career comeback, he said.
“She was looking forward to life,” Canote said. “This is not a woman who wanted to die.”
Marquez posted extensively on Facebook and elsewhere about her health problems, saying she was terminally ill and had seizures and celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that can damage the small intestine if gluten is ingested.
Marquez gained attention last year after tweeting that George Clooney helped blacklist her from Hollywood when she complained about sexual harassment and racist comments among their “ER” co-stars. Clooney said in a statement to “US Weekly” at the time that he was just an actor on the show and was unaware of any effort to blacklist her.
“If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career then she was lied to,” he said. “The fact that I couldn’t affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldn’t.”
Marquez played Nurse Wendy Goldman in the first few seasons of the NBC hit medical drama series. She also starred in the 1988 teacher drama “Stand and Deliver.”
Her “Stand and Deliver” costar Lou Diamond Phillips wrote on Twitter that he was “sick to learn of the tragic passing of my friend.”
“I was not aware of the pain she endured due to her conditions and saddened to think that they may have contributed to her untimely demise,” Phillips wrote. “Her light and her soul still shine in the performances she gave us.”
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