Former “ER” actress Vanessa Marquez was fatally shot by police in Los Angeles Thursday who were responding to her home for a welfare check.
According to Variety, South Pasadena police responded to the 49-year-old actress home at the 1100 block of Fremont Avenue after receiving a call by the landlord to check on her. When officers arrived, they found her suffering from seizures and “unable to take care of herself.”
‘ER’ actress Vanessa Marquez shot and killed by L.A. authorities https://t.co/MD4prxiHbL pic.twitter.com/7gTHLAEMCN
— Hollywood Reporter (@THR) August 31, 2018
First responders and a mental health professional were then called out to the scene. The report adds that after around 90 minutes, Marquez allegedly armed herself with a gun and pointed it at officers, which lead to them to fire on her, according to Sheriff’s Lt. Joe Mendoza.
Mendoza told the press that the former “ER” actress appeared to be going through “mental problems,” and that she appeared to be “gravely disabled.”
“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,” a statement to USA Today read. “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.”
Later, authorities said they discovered the gun was a BB gun. According to one report, the officers thought the weapon was a “semi-automatic handgun.”
Following the shooting, she was taken to the hospital where she was pronounced dead.
The actress also previously appeared in the 1988 drama “Stand and Deliver” alongside Edward James Olmos.
Last October, Mendoza accused co-star George Clooney of “blacklisting” her from “ER” after he alleged sexual harassment and racial discrimination on the set of the series. Clooney responded with a statement that he had nothing to do with casting decisions.
“I had no idea Vanessa was blacklisted,” the actor explained. “I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career, then she was lied to. The fact that I couldn’t affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldn’t.”