Crime & Safety
‘ER’ Actress Vanessa Marquez Shot, Killed By Police
The Woman Shot And Killed Has Been Identified As Actress Vanessa Marquez.
SOUTH PASADENA – The woman who was shot and killed by South Pasadena police during a welfare check Thursday afternoon has been identified as 49-year-old actress Vanessa Marquez.
Marquez reportedly pointed what turned out to be a BB gun at South Pasadena police officers Thursday afternoon, prompting them to open fire on her, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department reports.
Marquez had suffered seizures prior to being shot, authorities said.
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Marquez had an extensive television and movie career. She is best known for playing Nurse Wendy Goldman for the first three years of the hit series “ER.” She also appeared in guest roles on “Seinfeld,”
“Melrose Place,” and in the 1988 movie “Stand and Deliver.”
At about 11:50 a.m. Thursday, South Pasadena police officers were called for a welfare check from a landlord in the 1100 block of Fremont Avenue for a female resident who was having a medical issue, according
to the sheriff’s department. When they arrived on scene, they discovered Marquez suffering seizures and called for paramedics.
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A local television news outlet (CBSLA) reported that Officers spoke with her for more than 90 minutes, during the course of which she was uncooperative and they realized she was possibly suffering from mental health issues, the sheriff’s department reports. An L.A. County Mental Health Clinician was brought to the scene.
LASD reports say that Police and the Mental Health Clinician were speaking with her, a little before 2 p.m., she pulled out what looked like a handgun and pointed it at the officers, prompting them to open fire on her, the sheriff’s department reports.
She was rushed to a local hospital, where she died.
The gun was later determined to be a BB gun, designed to look like a replica semi-automatic handgun, LASD reports.
No officers were hurt during the incident.
The sheriff’s department is assisting South Pasadena police in the investigation.
(photo credit: An undated photograph of former “ER” actress Vanessa Marquez. (NBC))