Man died after beating at elementary school; months later, authorities are still weighing charges

Authorities have yet to decide whether to criminally charge two men who beat a hammer-wielding man after he tried to scale a fence outside a Long Beach elementary school.

A recently released report from the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s Office shows that John Thompson Jr., 49, died from atherosclerosis cardiovascular disease with methamphetamine use, physical struggle and blunt force trauma as contributing factors.

The Medical Examiner’s Office listed Thompson’s death as a homicide, meaning he was killed by another person or persons, but law enforcement officials have yet to say whether they believe it was a crime.

Authorities say Thompson displayed some erratic behavior near McKinley Elementary School in North Long Beach on Sept. 19.

In the days before his death, Thompson had been making calls to police claiming that people were following him, according to an autopsy report obtained by the Long Beach Post.

Police never substantiated Thompson’s suspicion, and that led police to believe he possibly had a history of mental health issues, according to the report.

Then around 2:30 p.m. on Sept. 19, Thompson called Long Beach police to report a home invasion and gunshots, according to the report.

Officers responded to his home and spoke to neighbors who told them Thompson had lied about the gunshots, according to the report. They also found no evidence of a home invasion, police previously said in a press release.

Before officers could find Thompson, he made his way to nearby McKinley Elementary with a small sledgehammer and climbed a fence, authorities said.

Two men who saw Thompson climbing the fence, followed him, held him down on the pavement, and punched and kicked several times, authorities said.

Police said the two men did this in an effort to disarm and detain Thompson.

Though police said they interviewed the two men, no arrests were made pending further investigation.

Now, nearly six months later, police say there are currently no new updates to the case and that it’s still under review by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office. The DA’s office, however, says it currently has no record of receiving any case involving Thompson’s name. This leaves the status of the case unclear, something that’s frustrated Thompson’s family.

His father, John Thompson Sr., argues the men involved in the beating should be charged with murder.

“We’d like justice,” Thompson Sr. said. “He looked bad climbing the fence, everybody gets that, … But there was enough of them there and they were obviously strong enough to subdue him, not beat him.”

Thompson Sr. said his son did not suffer from mental illness and had a stable job as a Caltrans worker before his death.

Even if his son was doing something wrong that day, Thompson Sr. said, “he still didn’t deserve to get murdered.”

The “bottom line,” according to Thompson’s family, is that someone beat him to death, and the people responsible should face charges.