Actress Vanessa Marquez, best known for her role as a nurse on the medical drama ER, was killed by police officers in California Thursday, the South Pasadena Police Department confirmed Friday.
The police were performing a welfare check on Marquez, 49, who was observed to be having seizures and a mental health crisis. She picked up a BB gun the officers said they believed to be a semiautomatic handgun, and police opened fire. Marquez was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. No officers were injured, and their body camera footage will not be released for at least half a year while the shooting is investigated.
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