Mortuary Affirms Security Plan After Shootings of Two

After reexamining security procedures, officials for Forest Lawn Mortuary said they are confident that measures at their Cypress cemetery are adequate, despite a shooting last month that left two people with minor injuries.

The Jan. 11 shooting occurred while 21-year old Siraj Leyerle of Long Beach was attending funeral services for his 6-week-old daughter, who died of sudden infant death syndrome. A fight broke out and Leyerle shot the child’s aunt and uncle. He later surrendered and faces assault charges.

The shooting was the second to occur at Forest Lawn’s Cypress cemetery in two years.

In August 1998 police shot and wounded an armed man who came to the cemetery looking for his estranged girlfriend, a Forest Lawn employee.

Following this latest incident, Forest Lawn officials reviewed their security plan. But they concluded that there was no reason the current system should be revamped.

The public hasn’t raised concerns about safety at the cemetery, said Paula Graber, Forest Lawn vice president for communications.

Graber said the mortuary, which has five locations throughout Orange and Los Angeles counties, couldn’t give specifics about its security plan, but she said employees are trained to notify police if they witness suspicious activity.

Cypress Police Lt. Mike Idom said last month’s shooting was unusual. Other than the 1998 incident, he said, the department has never had problems at Forest Lawn.

Idom said there are instances when the department and Forest Lawn officials need to be in close communication with each other, such as the potential for violence during funerals of gang members. Idom said that in these situations the department would be on alert because of potential retaliation by rival gang members. But Idom said the possibility of another shooting similar to last month’s was remote.

“Looking at what happened there a few weeks ago, we can’t say a pattern might occur,” Idom said. “We consider this a very isolated incident and it would be hard to find evidence that there might be a continuing problem there.”

Andre Briscoe can be reached at (714) 966-5848.