Former ‘ER’ Actress Vanessa Marquez Killed in Police Shooting

Vanessa Marquez (Credit: YouTube)

Vanessa Marquez, who played nurse Wendy Goldman on ER, was fatally shot by police officers during a welfare check in South Pasadena, according to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is assisting with the investigation.

The shooting occurred Thursday around 1:48 p.m. in the 1100 block on Fremont Avenue, authorities said. After an emergency call, South Pasadena police officers responded to an apartment complex to check on a female resident who was possibly suffering from a medical condition.

Responding officers noticed the woman was having seizures, and requested assistance from paramedics.

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After speaking with the woman for over an hour, she “armed herself with a handgun and pointed it at the officers, at which time an officer-involved shooting occurred,” the sheriff’s department said in a press release. 

The woman was transported to an area hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Sheriff’s officials identified the shooting victim on Friday as 49-year-old Vanessa Marquez.

The firearm police said Marquez was brandishing turned out to be a BB gun.

“The weapon recovered at the scene was a BB gun, and described as a replica semi-automatic handgun,” the sheriff’s department said.

The actress appeared on ER from 1994-1997, according to her IMDB page. Her other notable roles included the 1988 film Stand and Deliver and the television series Malcolm & Eddie.

Last year Marquez accused her former ER co-star, George Clooney, of having her blacklisted after she complained about being sexually and racially harassed on set.

“Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up abt harassment on ER. Women who dont play the game lose career…I did,” she tweeted at the time.

The actor denied her claims.

“I had no idea Vanessa was blacklisted,” Clooney said in a statement. “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.”