Suicide

Tim Willert GLENDALE -- A 31-year-old Van Nuys man apparently distraught over a medical condition threatened to kill himself Friday afternoon at Forest Lawn, Glendale, prompting Glendale Police to close the facility down, authorities said. Police, responding to a tip from family members that the man was armed and wanted to kill himself, searched the cemetery for about two hours but could not find the man, Sgt. Rick Young said. "After talking to him on his cell phone we determined that he was at Forest Lawn, Hollywood Hills," Young said.

Josh Kleinbaum The train wreck that killed 11 and injured nearly 200 was caused by an attention-grabbing stunt, not an aborted suicide attempt, police said Thursday. Juan Manuel Alvarez, 25, drove his Jeep Cherokee onto the Metrolink railroad tracks near Chevy Chase Drive just before 6 a.m. on Jan. 26 to gain sympathy from his estranged wife, said Glendale Police Lt. Jon Perkins, head of the Criminal Investigations Bureau. That set off a chain reaction that derailed three trains.

Colleagues and friends of the man involved in the alleged murder-suicide last week in La Cañada identified him Monday as Aaron Welch, an auto mechanic, tow-truck driver and longtime La Crescenta resident. The bodies of Welch and 39-year-old Genny Herrera were discovered by Los Angeles County sheriff’s deputies in the front room of an apartment in the 4500 block of Lasheart Drive shortly after 11 a.m. Friday. Sheriff’s homicide Det. Steve Lankford said it appeared the man fatally shot Herrera, and then fatally shot himself.

Our communities have been rocked in the last few weeks with a spate of suicides: Two teenage boys have killed themselves and a 13-year-old girl tried to do so. What is going on? In the case of 15-year-old Drew Ferraro, the specter of bullying has been raised by fellow students and his parents. Drew jumped to his death from a three-story building on the Crescenta Valley High School campus during lunch period in early February. But school and public safety officials have steadfastly denied bullying was the cause, pointing to a series of suicide notes stating a different reason.

Fairmount Avenue in La Crescenta is quiet again after it was shaken Tuesday morning by the sounds of screaming and gunshots, when one resident, a man who grew up in this town and graduated from La Cañada High School, reportedly shot his estranged wife then turned the gun on himself. It was shortly after 6 a.m. Oct. 5 when Janet Carr, in her late 40s, drove to her husband's home in the 2700 block of Fairmount Avenue in La Crescenta to drop off their two children, according to Sheriff's Deputy Scott Gage.

Police took a potentially suicidal man into custody in Northridge on Tuesday after he fired shots into the air. Officers responded to a report of shots fired on the 10000 block of Reseda Avenue at about 10:10 a.m. An LAPD spokeswoman said a woman also called to report that her husband was suicidal. When police arrived, the man pointed a gun at his head but eventually surrendered it and was taken into custody. Continue reading> > -- Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times

Documentary film producer Brian Gerber took his own life late Tuesday or early Wednesday by steering his car off a cliff on Angeles Crest Highway, according to county officials. Ed Winter, assistant chief at the Los Angeles County Coroner's office, confirmed that Gerber's body was found near mile marker 31 at 7:35 a.m. Wednesday. Winter said investigators found a suicide note by the highway, near where the car went off the side. Gerber, 41, produced the global warming documentary “The 11th Hour” for actor Leonardo DiCaprio and was involved in numerous other productions for the film, television and music video markets.

[Updated 6:53 a.m.: Police say the woman who jumped from five-story parking structure died from her injuries overnight in the hospital.] A woman who jumped off the five-story parking garage for Nordstrom on Central Avenue Tuesday afternoon was in “grave condition” as of Monday evening, police said. The woman, who police did not identify, fell 52 feet to a concrete sidewalk. Witnesses reported seeing her jump from the structure just south of Broadway at about 3:51 p.m. Northbound Central Avenue remained closed Monday afternoon as Glendale police investigated the incident.

Ben Godar Police found a suicide note inside the home of a Burbank man who was killed Monday when his Ford Explorer was struck by a MetroLink train. The coroner is expected to examine the body today and make an official ruling on the cause of death. Phillip Anderson, 52, was killed at 8:11 a.m. when his sport-utility vehicle was struck near the intersection of Grandview Avenue and San Fernando Road, police said. Witnesses saw Anderson pull onto the tracks and wait for the train, police said.