‘ER’ Alum Eriq La Salle Reacts to Vanessa Marquez’s Death

Former ER actor Eriq La Salle remembered his co-star Vanessa Marquez, who was shot and killed by police in South Pasadena, California on Thursday, with a heartfelt tweet shared Friday.

“We tragically lost a member of our ER family yesterday. Vanessa Marquez played a nurse when the show first aired. Sending out condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in eternal peace,” La Salle, who played Dr. Peter Benton, wrote.

On Friday, the South Pasadenan reported that a 49-year-old disabled woman was shot and killed by a South Pasadena police officer during a welfare check. Police said the woman allegedly pulled out a “BB-type” gun, which an officer responded to by opening fire. The woman was shot once and rushed to a local hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police have not confirmed the woman’s identity, but several media outlets reported that the woman was Marquez, who played nurse Wendy Goldman on ER and starred in the 1988 movie Stand and Deliver.

“At the time [of the shooting] there was an LA County mental health clinician here with the officers,” Lt. Joe Mendoza of the Los Angeles Sheriff’s homicide bureau said Friday. “They began to communicate with her, she became very uncooperative and during that contact she armed herself with a handgun, she pointed it at the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred.”

Mendoza said the woman “was undergoing some medical problems, some seizures, it appeared that the female was gravely disabled.”

Police said Marquez’s landlord called to report she was in trouble. They also said they had been called to her home before. Marquez was open about having celiac disease and seizures on Facebook.

Last year, Marquez said she was “racially and sexually” harassed on the set of ER and accused co-star George Clooney of helping her get blacklisted after she spoke up. Clooney later denied the allegations in a statement to Deadline. The actor has not commented on her death.

On social media, Marquez was known for her love of classic movies and was remembered by the community of film fans. Actor James Woods also called her death an “absolute tragedy.”

“This is an absolute tragedy. We must help people who are suffering from mental instability issues and full blown mental illness. Millions of Americans are vulnerable,” Woods wrote. “For every well known person like #VanessaMarquez, so many others fall through the cracks.”

“Heartbroken by this news. I knew Vanessa Marquez, were both @TCM fans and talked classic movies for hours on Facebook,” writer Matt Oswalt tweeted. “I knew she suffered severe health issues that affected her personality but never imagined this outcome. #RIP.”